Failing Our Kids? This Study Is Bad News For New York Parents

When every child is born, their parents want nothing but the absolute best for them. Everyone wants a head start on a better life, and early childhood education is one of the best ways to move in that direction. Now New York parents have a real cause for worry in that regard from a new survey.

Wallethub analyzed all fifty states and the District of Columbia with data from the National Institute for Early Education Research, Education Commission of the States and The National Women’s Law Center. Their goal was to compare quality of early childhood education state by state and shine a light on what could use improvements.

How Does New York Stack Up Against Other States On Early Education?

Not well, I'm afraid. Scroll through for the overall score, but here's the official breakdown:

In the Wallethub rankings, the state especially suffered in access to early childhood education and in quality of education. New York also racked up the highest bills, with childcare co-payment tying for the nation's most expensive.

The one bright spot was that New York cracked the top 20 for resources and economic support - meaning that there is already a high level of funding for early childhood education here. But if that's true, how could the remaining scores be so low? Wallethub had the issue explained by Dr. Martin Storksdieck of Oregon State University:

Invest wisely. Find the gaps and spend there, and not waste additional funding for kids and parents who are already doing well. We have an amazing ability to give more to where it is not needed.

So what's New York's Overall Score?

New York ranks in at number 44, making it the 8th worst in the US.

What States Were The Best and the Worst?

Indiana ranked as America's worst for early education, and, while I'm not here to tell people what's unexpected or not, Arkansas ranked at the top. Maybe its all that Wal-Mart money floating around the state. You can see the whole Wallethub survey here.