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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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Maryland, the District of Columbia and Arkansas have the three best early education systems in America, while Missouri, New Hampshire and Montana have the worst.
These are the findings personal finance website WalletHub has published in a new analysis.
WalletHub compared all of the states in the U.S. using 12 metrics, including whether or not the state offers a pre-K program, the spending per child enrolled in pre-K, and the number of quality benchmarks each state meets. The 12 metrics traversed the themes of access, quality, and resources and economic support and they were graded out of 100.
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Why It Matters
Education is an important policy area with huge ramifications on the lives of children and parents. Early education in particular is crucial for a child's brain and social development and can have a lasting impact on a child's outcomes in the future.
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What To Know
According to the report, Maryland ranked first with a total score of 77.62 points across the metrics WalletHub measured. The researchers put this down to recent increases in preschool enrolment for three-year-olds, the safety levels in schools in the state, and the proportionally large budget per child enrolled in preschool.
In second place was the District of Columbia with 74.90 points and Arkansas was third with 73.35 points.
Other states performed less well. Missouri was the state with the lowest total score with 35.4 points and New Hampshire was the second-worst, with a score of 36.49. Montana came third, scoring 37.34.
This map shows each state and where it ranked in the report:
The new research comes after WalletHub ranked the states with the best and worst school systems generally, earlier this month. In this research, they found that Massachusetts ranked first in the nation overall.
What People Are Saying
In the report, WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said: "The more that states invest in early education, and the more accessible they make those programs, the more they will benefit in the future. Having access to quality early education gives students a jump start that can improve their future performance in school, as well as lead to better job opportunities and higher earnings in the long-term. A better-educated, higher-earning population will in turn bring economic benefits back to the state."
What Happens Next
Under the new Trump administration, there have been a number of changes made to education more broadly.
Earlier this month the Supreme Court ruled the Department of Education can proceed with a plan to lay off nearly 1,400 workers. The Trump administration reportedly considered abolishing the Department of Education in its entirety earlier this year.
Meanwhile, last week, the Department of Education announced it would release more than $5 billion in frozen education grants to states to fund teacher training, English language programs, adult education and other programs.
The Trump administration had previously frozen it on June 30 pending a review by the federal Office of Management and Budget.
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