Are Idaho’s Public Schools Really That Bad?

WalletHub has posted a list of states with the best and worst public school systems in the country. Can you guess where Idaho ranks? Here's a hint: you'll be scrolling for a while before you find us.

WalletHub looked at several factors to determine the rankings. Idaho stood out in a few places in the study, but not in a good way. The first is the dropout rate, where we are tied for last in the United States with Alaska, Arizona, New Mexico, and Washington D.C. We rank fourth from the bottom when it comes to the percentage of threatened and injured high school students.

The study clearly pointed out that a well-funded school district always performs better, and of the 50 states and Washington D.C., Idaho ranks 51st in spending.

Considering how little is spent on Idaho public schools, our performance is better than you would expect. The overall school system rank is 39 out of 51. When it comes to the overall quality of our education, we also rank 39th, but when it comes to student safety, we rank 41st.

How do we rank compared to our neighboring states? Nevada has a notoriously bad school system, and they rank 42nd, three spots behind Idaho. Oregon ranks seven spots behind us at 45th. Wyoming ranks 25th, Washington 23rd, Montana 19th, and Utah 15th. What about California? So many people have fled to Idaho for a better life. Are we really giving that to them with our education system? Not according to this study. If they wanted better schools, they should have stayed in Hollywood. California ranks 34th overall, and their students are slightly safer, too, where they rank 39th compared to our 41st position.