What’s the worst school district in Ohio? (2024)

Determining factors: Child poverty rate, teacher-to-student ratio, per-pupil spending, and the share of adults with a college education

by: Dustin Lattimer, Peter Curi

Posted: Dec 7, 2022 / 09:39 AM EST

Updated: Jan 10, 2023 / 12:38 PM EST

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN/KSNF) — Every child is born to a unique set of circ*mstances. And it is these different social, familial, economic, environmental, and many other factors, that help shape who they become. While these conditions are countless, a handful of factors play an outsized role in a child’s development and the likelihood for future success, including academic success.

Whether or not a child succeeds academically can depend considerably on school quality. A student who falls behind in one school district might have excelled academically in another. And, It’s not always limited to the classroom — many of the strongest influences on a child’s future are in the home environment, and the resources a child may have or not have there.

The Clearview Local School District in northern Ohio ranks as the worst district in the state. Per pupil spending in the distinct totals just $9,770 a year, well below the $11,306 average spending statewide. While higher investment in education is no guarantee of improved outcomes, it can translate to certain advantages, such as small class sizes.

In the Clearview Local School District, there are 20 students per teacher, just above the student-teacher ratio of 17-to-1 across the Buckeye State.

According to school district review site Niche, Clearview Local School District compares poorly to other districts in the state in academics, clubs and activities, and resources and facilities.

In the following chart, you’ll find the worst school district in every state, according to these four measures: Child poverty rate, teacher-to-student ratio, per-pupil spending, and the share of adults with a college education. All data came from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics.

State	District	Enrollment	Annual Per-Pupil Spending ($)	Student-Teacher Ratio	Adults With A 4-Year Degree or Higher (%)
Alabama	Eufaula City School District	5,427	$5,298	38:1	16.5%
Alaska	Lower Yukon School District	2,006	$31,575	16:1	3.8%
Arizona	Gadsden School District 32	5,274	$7,649	36:1	N/A
Arkansas	Forrest City School District	2,531	$11,655	16:1	10.2%
California	Mendota Unified School District	3,543	$12,746	N/A	2.4%
Colorado	Las Animas School District RE-1	2,309	$8,049	60:1	9.7%
Connecticut	Waterbury School District	18,751	$18,110	13:1	15.7%
Delaware	Woodbridge School District	2,526	$15,027	15:1	14.3%
Florida	Hamilton County School District	1,610	$11,212	20:1	7.9%
Georgia	Treutlen County School District	1,122	$10,631	13:1	12.4%
Hawaii	Hawaii Department of Education	181,278	$16,132	15:1	33.0%
Idaho	Oneida County School District 351	2,464	$5,345	21:1	17.1%
Illinois	Prairie Hills Elementary School District 144	2,802	$13,082	20:1	N/A
Indiana	Union School Corporation	3,371	$4,188	22:1	16.3%
Iowa	Clayton Ridge Community School District	1,020	$9,536	26:1	17.7%
Kansas	Humboldt Unified School District 258	955	$9,187	22:1	15.4%
Kentucky	McCreary County School District	2,878	$11,066	17:1	7.2%
Louisiana	Madison Parish School District	1,243	$12,457	21:1	12.8%
Maine	School Administrative District 68	1,015	$4,451	20:1	23.5%
Maryland	Baltimore City Public Schools	79,297	$15,888	16:1	31.9%
Massachusetts	Chelsea School District	6,088	$15,676	15:1	18.5%
Michigan	River Rouge School District	2,279	$11,349	26:1	8.9%
Minnesota	Worthington Public School District	3,904	$10,566	22:1	15.3%
Mississippi	North Bolivar Consolidated School District	937	$10,199	15:1	16.5%
Missouri	Hayti R-II School District	667	$9,945	13:1	5.3%
Montana	Browning H S Dist 9	615	$12,462	16:1	N/A
Nebraska	Lexington Public Schools	3,104	$11,971	15:1	12.5%
Nevada	White Pine County School District	1,655	$10,543	28:1	13.2%
New Hampshire	Berlin School District	1,159	$17,739	12:1	12.4%
New Jersey	Trenton City School District	14,500	$16,791	16:1	12.2%
New Mexico	West Las Vegas Public Schools	1,539	$12,455	16:1	13.4%
New York	Niagara Falls City School District	7,159	$18,524	20:1	18.7%
North Carolina	Robeson County Schools	22,044	$9,979	16:1	13.7%
North Dakota	Williams County School District 8	653	$10,227	26:1	N/A
*Ohio*	*Clearview Local School District*	*1,654*	*$9,770*	20:1	11.9%
Oklahoma	Carnegie Public Schools	554	$11,060	14:1	14.4%
Oregon	Marcola School District	593	$9,521	38:1	19.0%
Pennsylvania	Greater Johnstown School District	2,984	$13,558	15:1	12.4%
Rhode Island	Central Falls School District	2,695	$17,432	14:1	8.1%
South Carolina	Dillon School District 4	4,134	$9,510	17:1	10.5%
South Dakota	Todd County School District 66-1	2,099	$13,485	13:1	15.6%
Tennessee	Union County School District	4,509	$7,852	20:1	9.9%
Texas	Edgewood Independent School District	10,234	$9,922	16:1	4.6%
Utah	Uintah School District	7,257	$8,365	24:1	15.8%
Vermont	St. Johnsbury Town School District	1,070	$13,187	23:1	N/A
Virginia	Colonial Beach Public Schools	671	$11,289	17:1	26.2%
Washington	Mary M. Knight School District	1,658	$10,469	39:1	14.7%
West Virginia	McDowell County School District	3,063	$13,070	13:1	5.4%
Wisconsin	Milwaukee School District	75,431	$14,145	17:1	24.6%
Wyoming	Niobrara County School District 1	809	$14,656	13:1	18.2%

Data Methodology

Data on per-pupil spending in 2019 came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual Survey of School System Finances. Data on the ratio of students to teachers in the 2019-2020 school year came from the National Center for Education Statistics. Data on the percentage of children aged five to 17 living in poverty in 2019 came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates program. Finally, five-year data on the percentage of adults 25 and over with at least a bachelor’s degree by school district in 2019 came from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Only school districts with at least 500 students and at least three of four index data points were considered.

Dustin Lattimer of Nexstar’s KSNF/KODE contributed to this article.