Georgia finished 37th in a new public education study from the website 24/7 Wall St. that examines such measures as high school graduation rates, per-pupil funding and preschool participation.
In the analysis, which is modeled after the Quality Counts study created by the publication Education Week, Georgia was found to have a 12th-grade graduation rate of 80.6 percent, education spending amounting to $10,205 per student and a preschool participation rate among 3- and 4-year-olds of 46.1 percent.
Those obtaining bachelor’s degrees in the state represented 31.9 percent of the adult population.
Top-ranking states in the 24/7 Wall St. analysis demonstrated strong performances in reading and math proficiency, as well as graduating students on time. In nine of the top-10 state educational systems, high school graduation rates came in above 84.6 percent, the report said.
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Even in states that ranked toward the bottom of the list, there are schools that perform at above-average levels, the analysis said.
Which States Have the Best Public Schools?
| Rank | State | High School Graduation Rate | Public School Spending per Pupil | % of 3- and 4-year-olds in Preschool | % of Adults With Bachelor’s Degrees |
| 1 | Massachusetts | 88.3% | $16,197 | 58.4% | 44.5% |
| 2 | New Jersey | 90.5% | $18,920 | 62.1% | 40.8% |
| 3 | Connecticut | 87.9% | $19,322 | 61.7% | 39.6% |
| 4 | New Hampshire | 88.9% | $15,683 | 57.6% | 36.8% |
| 5 | Vermont | 89.1% | $18,290 | 61.7% | 38.7% |
| 6 | Wyoming | 86.2% | $16,537 | 45% | 26.9% |
| 7 | Minnesota | 82.7% | $12,647 | 49.6% | 36.7% |
| 8 | Nebraska | 89.1% | $12,579 | 43.3% | 32.4% |
| 9 | Pennsylvania | 86.6% | $15,798 | 46.9% | 31.8% |
| 10 | Virginia | 86.9% | $11,886 | 48.1% | 39.3% |
| 11 | Wisconsin | 88.6% | $11,968 | 37.1% | 30% |
| 12 | Illinois | 87% | $15,337 | 54.2% | 35.1% |
| 13 | Maryland | 87.7% | $14,848 | 47.6% | 40.8% |
| 14 | Maine | 86.9% | $13,690 | 53.5% | 31.5% |
| 15 | Iowa | 91% | $11,461 | 45.4% | 29% |
| 16 | New York | 81.8% | $23,091 | 55% | 37.2% |
| 17 | Colorado | 79.1% | $9,809 | 49.9% | 41.7% |
| 18 | Indiana | 83.8% | $10,045 | 37.7% | 27.1% |
| 19 | Ohio | 84.2% | $12,645 | 43.6% | 29.0% |
| 20 | Montana | 85.8% | $11,443 | 41.4% | 31.7% |
| 21 | Delaware | 86.9% | $15,302 | 48.7% | 31.3% |
| 22 | Utah | 86% | $7,179 | 38% | 34.9% |
| 23 | Florida | 82.3% | $9,075 | 49.9% | 30.4% |
| 24 | Washington | 79.4% | $11,989 | 45% | 36.7% |
| 25 | North Carolina | 86.6% | $9,072 | 43.8% | 31.9% |
| 26 | Missouri | 88.3% | $10,589 | 47% | 29.5% |
| 27 | South Dakota | 83.7% | $9,939 | 37.8% | 29.2% |
| 28 | Rhode Island | 84.1% | $15,943 | 33.9% | 34.4% |
| 29 | Kentucky | 89.7% | $10,121 | 42.7% | 24.8% |
| 30 | Kansas | 86.5% | $10,961 | 45.8% | 33.8% |
| 31 | North Dakota | 87.2% | $13,760 | 38.5% | 29.7% |
| 32 | Tennessee | 89.8% | $9,184 | 35.3% | 27.5% |
| 33 | Idaho | 79.7% | $7,486 | 36% | 27.7% |
| 34 | Arkansas | 88.0% | $9,967 | 45.4% | 23.3% |
| 35 | California | 82.7% | $12,143 | 45.6% | 34.2% |
| 36 | Texas | 89.7% | $9,375 | 38.7% | 30.3% |
| 37 | Georgia | 80.6% | $10,205 | 46.1% | 31.9% |
| 38 | Michigan | 80.2% | $11,907 | 43.5% | 29.6% |
| 39 | Oregon | 76.7% | $11,264 | 45.2% | 34% |
| 40 | Mississippi | 83% | $8,771 | 45.1% | 23.2% |
| 41 | South Carolina | 83.6% | $10,590 | 39.1% | 28.3% |
| 42 | Hawaii | 82.7% | $14,322 | 44.2% | 33.5% |
| 43 | Alaska | 78.2% | $17,838 | 44.3% | 30.2% |
| 44 | Oklahoma | 82.6% | $7,940 | 41.4% | 25.6% |
| 45 | Arizona | 78% | $8,003 | 35.1% | 29.7% |
| 46 | Alabama | 89.3% | $9,511 | 40.9% | 25.5% |
| 47 | West Virginia | 89.4% | $11,554 | 34.6% | 21.3% |
| 48 | Nevada | 80.9% | $9,320 | 35.1% | 24.9% |
| 49 | Louisiana | 78.1% | $11,199 | 48.3% | 24.3% |
| 50 | New Mexico | 71.1% | $9,881 | 40.4% | 27.7% |
Source: 24/7 Wall St.
