Best school for the buck
Howard County is one of the best school systems in the country for the buck, according to the July issue of Forbes Magazine.
Howard County ranks seventh in the business publication’s ranking that accompanies the article “Best and Worst Districts For The Buck.” Montgomery County ranks fifth on the chart, and is the top Maryland school system according to the magazine.
Forbes uses per-pupil spending in school systems and compared it with college entrance exam scores, exam participation rates and graduation rates to determine the rankings.
The higher ranking school systems on the Forbes list deliver high performance at low cost, according to the article.
In addition to Montgomery and Howard counties, Frederick County ranks 21st, Carroll ranks 37th, Calvert ranks 51st, Anne Arundel ranks 75th, and Baltimore County ranks 89th.
What do you think about this ranking? Do you live in any of these Maryland school systems? Do you think that your school system should have been ranked higher than Montgomery?
Howard County ranks seventh in the business publication’s ranking that accompanies the article “Best and Worst Districts For The Buck.” Montgomery County ranks fifth on the chart, and is the top Maryland school system according to the magazine.
Forbes uses per-pupil spending in school systems and compared it with college entrance exam scores, exam participation rates and graduation rates to determine the rankings.
The higher ranking school systems on the Forbes list deliver high performance at low cost, according to the article.
In addition to Montgomery and Howard counties, Frederick County ranks 21st, Carroll ranks 37th, Calvert ranks 51st, Anne Arundel ranks 75th, and Baltimore County ranks 89th.
What do you think about this ranking? Do you live in any of these Maryland school systems? Do you think that your school system should have been ranked higher than Montgomery?
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Comments
John-John - I saw the story as well. As a Howard County native and product of the public schools, I am a little biased. The challenge of the story is the primary factor being cost-effectiveness. When looking at the 6 systems ranked higher, they all spend less than Howard per pupil? Is that a good thing or bad? Does that mean Howard should spend less or does that mean Howard should look at spending more effectively? I don't know. I can tell you having lived in Hamilton County, Indiana (which was ranked 2), they have not had the resources to provide their elementary schools with up-to-date social studies books that have the current president in office. In fact, a friend's daughter was graded on a test incorrectly because the teacher relied upon the text book which stated that Bill Clinton was the current President rather than George W. Bush. It was a little comical that the teacher marked the student's quiz answer as incorrect, when in fact the textbook was wrong. I guess maybe that extra $500 does make a difference...
Posted by: Brian Meshkin | July 18, 2007 10:14 AM