New York early education system ranked 10th worst nationwide

NEW YORK (WWTI) — With pre-school enrollment dropping due to the COVID-19 pandemic, New York’s early education system has been found to be one of the worst in the country.

This was determined by a study conducted by the personal-finance website WalletHub, which compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 12 key metrics. Data sets in the study ranged from share of school districts that offer a state pre-K program, to number of pre-K quality benchmarks met and total reported spending per child enrolled in these programs.

New York ranked tenth worst overall with low rankings in quality and access. The study also found that Arkansas has the best early education system, ranking first in quality and fourth in access; and Indiana has the worst early education system, ranking last in quality and fourth worst for resources and economic support.

Fort specific metrics, New York ranked 30th for highest income requirements for state Pre-K eligibility, 24th highest total reported spending per child enrolled in preschool and 28th for highest share of school districts that offer state preschool programs. Higher rankings included its preschool growth, placing 19th, and change in states spending per child enrolled in preschool, placing 17th.

A map detailing each state’s ranking and a chart with metrics are featured below:

Overall Rank	State	Total Score	Access	Quality	Resources & Economic Support
1	Arkansas	74.70	4	1	20
2	Nebraska	70.72	5	2	22
3	District of Columbia	68.11	2	19	23
4	Maryland	65.14	24	2	8
5	Alabama	63.23	14	6	10
6	Rhode Island	63.18	29	6	1
7	Vermont	63.12	1	46	18
8	West Virginia	62.31	8	8	32
9	New Jersey	57.69	12	25	2
10	Oregon	57.54	19	18	3
11	New Mexico	57.39	9	39	5
12	Oklahoma	55.75	6	39	16
13	Illinois	55.43	3	45	24
14	South Carolina	54.32	13	14	30
15	Kentucky	54.10	11	13	44
16	Washington	53.57	20	21	12
17	Connecticut	53.36	15	15	29
18	Louisiana	53.19	21	12	35
19	Wisconsin	53.16	7	42	27
20	Delaware	52.63	23	17	17
21	Iowa	51.68	10	38	26
22	Tennessee	51.67	22	11	50
23	Maine	50.94	16	39	14
24	Hawaii	50.69	25	26	6
25	Alaska	49.67	26	22	13
26	Michigan	49.47	17	26	25
27	Virginia	48.86	48	4	28
28	Texas	48.59	42	5	42
29	California	47.81	31	23	11
30	Georgia	45.73	45	9	33
31	Ohio	44.86	28	20	40
32	Utah	44.78	37	43	7
33	North Carolina	43.98	47	9	31
34	Arizona	42.53	27	36	49
35	Mississippi	42.46	30	26	36
36	Nevada	42.18	50	16	4
37	Colorado	42.11	41	24	21
38	Pennsylvania	41.80	46	37	9
39	Florida	40.99	35	26	37
40	Wyoming	39.23	32	26	38
41	South Dakota	38.97	34	26	38
42	New York	37.91	43	46	19
43	Montana	37.00	36	26	46
44	Idaho	36.39	40	26	43
45	Kansas	36.13	18	50	41
46	New Hampshire	35.57	38	26	51
47	Minnesota	34.04	49	44	15
48	Massachusetts	32.46	44	48	34
49	Missouri	30.35	39	49	45
50	North Dakota	28.64	33	51	47
51	Indiana	20.79	51	26	48

Full results from the study can be found on the WalletHub website.