Gov. Matt Meyer discusses changes to education funding in Delaware
During a recent sit-down interview with The News Journal, Gov. Matt Meyer discussed changes to how schools are funded in Delaware. 5/5/25
The roughly 140,000 students in public schools in Delaware getting one of the best — and safest — education experiences in the nation, a recent study suggests.
Delaware ranked relatively high in WalletHub’s “States with the Best and Worst School Systems” report, with public education in Delaware ranking higher than Pennsylvania, but well behind New Jersey and New York.
The first day of school for some public schools in Delaware is Monday, August 25.
Here’s where Delaware ranked on WalletHub’s list.
WalletHub ranks Delaware’s public education in top 15
Delaware is ranked 12th in WalletHub’s “States with the Best and Worst School Systems” report.
Broken down by metrics, WalletHub ranked Delaware’s public education first in safety, the second year in a row in which the First State received WalletHub’s top safety ranking.
WalletHub’s safety ranking factors the number of students who bring weapons to school; the number of school shootings; the number of mandatory school resource officers; the disciplinary incident rate; number of bullying incidents; the youth incarceration rate and other indicators.
Delaware also has the lowest percent of students who were either threatened or injured in school.
Delaware lagged in the quality metric however, ranking 30th.
Public education in New Jersey, New York well ahead of Delaware
While Delaware ranks higher than Pennsylvania in WalletHub’s “States with the Best and Worst School Systems” study — Pennsylvania ranked 22nd — it has ground to make up to catch New Jersey and New York.
New Jersey and New York are both in WalletHub’s top ten, with NJ ranked third and NY ranked tenth.
“New Jersey has the third-best school systems in the country. It has a dedicated digital learning plan that supports technology integration in education,” read a portion of WalletHub’s findings. “It also has the seventh highest pupil-to-teacher ratio in the nation, highlighting the importance of accessible digital resources for students.”
WalletHub also credited New Jersey for having second-best reading test scores and fifth-best math scores for fourth and eighth grade students, and for students scoring high on AP Exams.
WalletHub also credited New Jersey for having the third-most number of public schools which are ranked in the top 700.
Damon C. Williams is a Philadelphia-based journalist reporting on trending topics across the Mid-Atlantic Region.