Study Claims Maine Does Not Have a Single Elite Public School

We all use lists as a point of reference, whether we realize it or not; everything from vacation ideas to restaurants to home improvement projects. Maine as a whole is often recognized on national lists as a terrific place to live, stay, and visit. But in terms of the quality of public schools? Well, that is a different story.

24/7 Wall St recently put together a list of the 50 best public schools all across the United States. The list was compiled from data pulled together in seven specific categories:

• Academics/test scores
• Parent/Student surveys
• Culture and Diversity
• Overall Teacher grade
• Extracurricular activities
• Resources grade
• Sports/athletics grade

Some of those categories deserve further explanation. For instance, the overall teacher grade is broken down into teacher salaries, the amount of teacher sick days taken, as well as how teachers fare in parent/student surveys.

Maine public schools were also hurt by their lack of culture and diversity. Maine remains one of the least culturally diverse states in the nation, so there is very little public schools in the state can do to alter that rating.

Lastly, funding for public schools is always an issue. Three categories used by 24/7 Wall St are all dependent on funding: extracurricular activities available to students, resources available to both teachers and students, as well as sports teams, clubs, facilities, and fields available to students. Many public schools in Maine simply do not have the funding to offer substantial options in those categories.

Thus, Maine was one of a handful of states that did not have a single public school appear amongst the top 50 nationwide. If you're curious, the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics was ranked the #1 public school in America.