Virginia has the highest-ranked public school system in the Washington region, according to a new national analysis released Monday, while Maryland remains in the top 15 and the District of Columbia sits near the middle of the pack. This ranking, published by the personal finance website WalletHub, comes as education experts say strong schools depend less on how much money is spent than on how those dollars are used.
“Getting enough funding is essential for a productive school system, but simply having more money doesn’t guarantee success,” WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said in the report.
WalletHub ranked Virginia sixth nationally, followed by Maryland at No. 14 and the District of Columbia at No. 30. Nationally, Massachusetts earned the top spot, followed by Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. New Mexico finished last, preceded by Alaska, Oklahoma, Oregon and West Virginia.
The findings are likely to draw attention across the District, Maryland and Virginia, where school quality remains one of the biggest considerations for families deciding where to live and where state and local governments invest billions of dollars in public education each year.
“How funds are applied also plays a big role in how good a school system is, as does the quality of educators, other professionals and the curriculum,” Lupo continued. “In addition, schools need to focus not just on test scores but also on making sure that students feel safe, comfortable and cared for.”
WalletHub compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 32 indicators measuring school quality and safety. The rankings considered graduation rates, standardized test scores, teacher credentials, student-teacher ratios, bullying, school violence, technology access and other factors. Academic quality accounted for 80% of each state’s score, while safety made up the remaining 20%.
Virginia’s sixth-place finish reflected a combination of strong academic performance and the nation’s fifth-best safety ranking. Maryland placed 14th overall despite ranking 26th in educational quality, aided by a fourth-place safety ranking. The District ranked 30th overall, including 27th for quality and 25th for safety.
The District’s results also revealed sharp contrasts. It ranked first nationally for median ACT scores, second for pupil-to-teacher ratio and had the nation’s lowest reported bullying incidence rate. At the same time, it ranked last in fourth- and eighth-grade math scores and had the nation’s highest dropout rate in the analysis.
Education researchers interviewed for the report said those differences show why per-pupil spending, by itself, says little about how well students ultimately perform.
Scott Thorne, an instructor in the Department of Marketing at Southeast Missouri State University, said districts often see better results by directing existing resources to the students and schools with the greatest needs.
“More important than how much money is spent is how the available money is spent,” Thorne said.
Ashlyn Aiko Nelson, an associate professor in Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, said higher spending often reflects the additional costs of educating students who need more support rather than evidence of stronger schools.
“No; in fact, variation in per-pupil spending explains very little variation in school quality,” Nelson said. “Many high-spending districts spend more on a per-pupil basis due to so-called compensatory funding,” such as additional resources for students living in poverty, English learners, students experiencing housing instability and children with
Attracting Quality Teachers, Community Partnerships
For many education experts, a critical part to student success is having strong educators in the classroom.
“Targeting funds to give incentives to attract teachers to hard to staff schools or students with special needs has shown to drive more improvement in quality,” Thorne said.
Nelson said attracting and retaining effective teachers should remain a top priority.
“Research shows that, on average, school-based factors only account for about 30% of the variation in student outcomes,” she explained. “Within schools, teacher quality … is the factor that explains the greatest variation in student outcomes.”
Rosemary Salomone, the Kenneth Wang Professor of Law at St. John’s University School of Law, said additional funding can improve schools when it is directed toward proven priorities such as teacher salaries, facilities, technology and enrichment programs.
“The evidence does suggest that additional funds allocated to schools can in fact improve academic performance but only if those funds are well spent and targeted toward the indicators that directly impact performance,” Salomone said.
She said policymakers should also look beyond school budgets and strengthen partnerships throughout their communities.
“State and local policymakers must see the school as part of the community and not in isolation,” Salomone said. “They should engage the resources available from non-profits and community organizations as well as local colleges and universities in providing tutoring, after-school educational as well as child care programs for working parents, enrichment classes in sports and the arts, medical care, family counseling, and teacher training.”
The St. John’s University School of Law professor emphasized the importance and benefits of including the community in school programming.
“By engaging these external resources,” Salomone said, “schools can help students feel that they are part of a ‘village’ creating emotional security and more effectively engage parents in their child’s schooling, all of which ultimately improve academic performance.”
