New Report: Maine Has One of the Best School Systems in America

It's good news for Maine families and teachers alike. According to a new report, the Pine Tree State boasts one of the top school systems in the nation.

WalletHub.com, a personal finance website, recently published its annual report on the states with the best and worst school systems. Maine was listed as the state with the 12th best school system in America. That's a very respectable ranking, one that should certainly make parents feel pretty darn good.

How Good is Maine's Public School System?

Maine's school score was based on two major categories, Quality and Safety. These categories are broken down into 32 subcategories to make it as accurate as possible. You can read more about the methodology here.

Maine's ranking for quality was decent, finishing in the top 50% at 24th. However, the state did earn some impressive marks within the category, including one of the best student-to-teacher ratios and a low dropout rate.

Where the state truly performed well was in the safety category. Maine was ranked an amazing 3rd, something everyone should be happy about. This includes being one of the states with the fewest students who are threatened or injured.

How Good are New England Public Schools?

Maine was joined by many of its New England brethren on this list. In fact, it was quite the showing for the region. Just look at these rankings.

1. Massachusetts
2. Connecticut
4. New Hampshire
7. Vermont
9. Rhode Island

Maine being the lowest-ranked state in New England at 12th certainly shows how impressive the region is as a whole. Perhaps next year, all six states could sneak into the Top 10.

If you were wondering, coming in dead last was the lovely state of New Mexico. Not a great list to finish last on, but someone has to. You can find the full rankings here.

Kudos to all the wonderful educators who continue to do their best to educate our next generation while keeping students comfortable and safe.