Education in the US State of Minnesota comes from a number of public and private sources and encompasses pre-Kindergarten to post-secondary levels. Minnesota has a literate and well-educated population;[1] the state ranked 13th on the 2006–07 Morgan Quitno Smartest State Award, and is first in the percentage of residents with at least a high school diploma.[2][3] But while more than 90% of high school seniors graduated in 2006, about 6% of white, 28% of African American, 30% of Asian American and more than 34% of Hispanic and Native American students dropped out of school.[4] In 2007 Minnesota students earned the highest average score in the nation on the ACT exam.[5] While Minnesota has chosen not to implement school vouchers,[6] it is home to the first charter school, the City Academy High School of Saint Paul.[7]
Public education in Minnesota is administered by School Districts and falls under the umbrella of the Minnesota Department of Education. Most School districts in the state are designated as "independent" and derive their authority from the Minnesota Legislature.
49 Minnesota high schools were ranked by Newsweek in their 2013 list of the best 1000 public high schools in America[9]Edina High School was the top ranked Minnesota school and was 121st in the nation with a 99% graduation rate, 0.9 average AP/IB test score, and 96% college-bound rate.
^Table 228: Educational Attainment by State, U.S. Bureau of the Census, showing Minnesota with a 91% high school graduation rate in 2006, the second-highest in the nation. Retrieved October 12, 1020.
^"Status of Girls in Minnesota"(PDF). Women's Foundation of Minnesota and the Institute for Women's Policy Research. April 2008. Archived from the original(PDF) on October 20, 2013. Retrieved April 29, 2008.
