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... In its 2026 ranking, World Population Review listed New York as the state with the best public schools in the nation. Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Illinois rounded out the top five. On the other end of the spectrum, Arizona ranked at last. Alaska, Nevada, Oklahoma and New Mexico also ranked among the states with the worst public schools.

The report's ranking was based on four categories: K-12 performance, such as graduation rates and test scores; school funding and resources; higher education quality; and school safety. ...