Top 10 Worst Cities for Education in America

One of the toughest decisions to make when choosing a place to live is determining which school will best suit your children. While parents rank factors like class size and special programs differently, in the end we all want our kids to get the skills they need for a successful future. Unfortunately, the recession has led to major cuts in education spending, including a reduction in the amount allocated to training teachers. A 2011 report from the Secretary of Education outlined troubling trends in our children's achievement, predicting that if we don't improve our education system "the next generation will not be ready to be world-class inventors, doctors, and engineers." When we looked at specific measures such as graduation rates, math and reading scores, per-student spending and class sizes, we came up with the following list of poor performers.

1. Las Vegas, Nevada
When tough economic times hit a city, the school districts feel the pain. Thanks to Las Vegas' declining tax revenue and state aid, the school district was recently downgraded by both Standard & Poor's and Moody's, thereby thwarting plans for $5.3 billion in school maintenance needed over the next decade. Meanwhile, the school district was at the bottom of our list for pupil/teacher ratio and was in the bottom third for per-pupil spending.