RI K-12 Education Ranked for "High Spending and Weak System" - Says New Report

RI K-12 Education Ranked for "High Spending and Weak System" - Says New Report

A new report ranks Massachusetts as having the best K-12 schools in America.

All of the New England states made the top 25, but one — Rhode Island.

The new report issued by WalletHub paints a dire picture of Rhode Island’s public school’s performance in contrast to its peer states.

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Rhode Island is identified as a "high spending, Weak School System" state.

 

 

 

“Securing a child’s academic success begins with choosing the right schools. But how can parents decide where to enroll their kids? Because children develop and learn at different rates, the ideal answer to that question varies based on each student’s needs. Those needs have become even more specialized in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused significant learning loss and decreased test scores for many students,” writes WalletHub.

“Unfortunately, most parents can’t afford to place their children in exclusive, private or preparatory schools that give their students greater individual attention. For the majority of U.S. families, public education is the only option. The quality of public school systems varies widely from state to state, though, and is often a question of funding," according to Wallet Hub.

"Public elementary and secondary education money usually flows from three sources: the federal, state and local governments. According to the U.S. Department of Education, states contribute nearly as much as local governments, while the federal government supplies the smallest share. Some researchers have found that more resources — or taxes paid by residents — typically result in better school-system performance," writes Wallet Hub.

According to the Reason Foundation, Rhode Island increased K-12 education funding by 31% between 2002 and 2020 and spent $19,574 per pupil.

Massachusetts per pupil spending is slightly higher, $21,132, but did not increase as much as RI. The Commonwealth’s per-pupil spending rose 26% over the same time period.