The Cowboy State generally does well when compared to the rest of the country, but scoring in the top tier is always worth a little bragging rights. Thus is the case with our public school system.

According to a recent study conducted by 24/7 Wall St, Wyoming ranked seventh out of all fifty states. As a matter of fact, we were the only state entirely located west of the Mississippi River with a public school system that ranks among the nation’s 10 best.

The study states:

While the connection between school spending and educational outcomes is a matter for debate, Wyoming allocates a larger than typical share of its budget to its public school system. Some 4.7% of Wyoming’s taxable resources goes towards education — higher than the average spending across all states of 3.3% and the fourth largest share among states. Partially as a result, every public school student in the state benefits from greater spending on a per pupil basis than the national average.

Wyoming public school students are also more likely than most to meet some important achievement targets. For example, 41.2% of fourth graders in the state are proficient in reading, and 35.3% of eighth graders are proficient in math, compared to the respective 34.8% and 32.1% shares nationwide.

The top five states (in order of ranking) are:

  1. Massachusetts
  2. New Jersey
  3. Vermont
  4. New Hampshire
  5. Connecticut

The bottom five (in descending order) are:

  1. Louisiana
  2. Idaho
  3. Mississippi
  4. New Mexico
  5. Nevada

 

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