Education Week just released Quality Counts 2017, which scores and grades state public school systems based on measures grouped into three broad areas: Chance for Success, K-12 Achievement, and School Finance.
North Carolina was one of 14 states to receive a C-minus and the state’s score of 70.5 tied with South Dakota for 39th out of 50 states and Washington, D.C.
The U.S. scored a 74.2, which earned a C. Overall, 34 states had grades between C-minus and C-plus.
Maryland and Virginia had the highest scores/grades in the Southeast and were the only two states in the region to beat the U.S. score.
Unfortunately, many of these measures do not account for recent budgetary changes. Per student expenditures and census data, for example, are from 2014.