Choosing the right school for your kiddo is a huge decision for parents. But, what does that even mean - the "right" school? That answer is probably different for every student. So how does a parent - especially parents of youngsters just starting school - make that decision? WalletHub just released a report that might provide some insight to parents.

States with the Best & Worst School Systems in 2024

This report takes a slightly different approach when ranking each state's school systems...

Unlike other research that focuses primarily on academic outcomes or school finance, WalletHub’s analysis takes a more comprehensive approach. It accounts for performance, funding, safety, class size, and instructor credentials.

Each state was scored in two main categories and several sub-categories. School Quality accounted for 80% of the score - including metrics like Dropout Rate, Math Test Scores, Reading Test Scores, Median SAT Score, and many others.

READ MORE: This Indiana City Ranks 10th Worst Place for Recreation in America

The other main category is School Safety, which looks at things like Share of Threatened/Injured High School Students, Share of High School Students Not Attending School Due to Safety Concerns, Share of Armed High School Students, and Number of School Shootings.

Hooray for the Hoosier State - Indiana's School System is Pretty Darn Good

I am excited to share that, according to this report, Indiana has the 13th best school system in America, once again just barely missing the top ten. Indiana ranked 13th in Quality and 10th in safety and had a total score of 57.

Which State Has the Best School System?

I thought it was worth pointing out which state is ranked at the top of the list, only because the competition isn't even close. Massachusetts is once again ranked as the #1 school system in America, ranking #1 in Quality and #2 in Safety, with a total score of 74. By comparison, the 2nd best school system, Connecticut, had a total score of 67.

Scroll over the map below to see how the rest of the states ranked, and check out the full report if you want to do a deeper dive into the data.

Source: WalletHub

30 Bizarre (and Real) Indiana High School Mascots

According to High School.com, there are 682 high schools in Indiana. 555 of those are public schools, while the remaining 127 are private. A majority of those schools have chosen typical mascots to represent them, like eagles, tigers, lions, jets, patriots, and so on and so forth. But, these 30 schools decided to go, well, a different direction.

Gallery Credit: Ryan O'Bryan

38 Celebrities Who Were Born in Indiana

There are a bunch of famous folks that everyone knows were born in Indiana, but there are even more that you didn't know about. Most of this list is arranged in alphabetical order, except for the handful of celebrities born in our neck of the woods here in southern Indiana. I gotta give them a little preferential treatment.

Gallery Credit: Bobby G.

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