WMOT 89.5 | LISTENER-POWERED RADIO INDEPENDENT AMERICAN ROOTS
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Education failures threaten Tennessee's economy

wallethub.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WMOT)  --  Governor Bill Haslam routinely touts the improvement in Tennessee’s student assessment scores over the last few years, but a new study puts that achievement in troubling perspective.

WMOT reporting partners Wallethub.com has completed a study ranking the most and least educated states in the nations. Tennessee scored eighth from the bottom.

Wallethub analyst Jill Gonzalez says the study reveals a pronounced regional difference in scores, with most southern states joining Tennessee at the bottom of the list.

“Tennessee ranked 43rd overall. States beneath that level: Alabama, Kentucky, Arkansa, Louisiana, Mississippi…all toward the bottom here.”

Wallethub says 86 percent of Tennesseans have a high school diploma but only 25 percent have a four year college degree. Contrast that with Massachusetts where twice as many residents have a bachelor’s degree.

Gonzalez says poor education rates have very practical impact on Tennessee’s bottom line.

“Generally, the higher the level of education the more income potential growth, the lower the chances of unemployment and really the better a state does economically.”

Gonzalez says there are some bright spots in the report for Tennessee. She says where education is concerned there’s far less racial and gender disparity in Tennessee as compared to most other states.

Would you  like to review the entire Wallethub study?