Magazine gives high grades to state public school districts

Wisconsin public schools again came out on top in a new national ranking that emphasizes the importance of quality public education for companies seeking to expand their business.

Seven Wisconsin metropolitan areas are included in Expansion Management magazine's list of the top 25 locations with quality public schools. No other state has more than three metropolitan areas included in the list.

The magazine ranked the nation's largest 362 metropolitan areas in terms of the quality of public education. The seven Wisconsin areas to make the top 25 are Sheboygan at 5, Eau Claire at 7, Madison at 8, Wausau at 11, Appleton at 16, Oshkosh-Neenah at 20, and Fond du Lac at 24.

In an article accompanying the list, the magazine says it ranks metropolitan areas on the basis of the quality of public education because more than 70% of the U.S. work force does not have a college degree.

"That’s why it’s important for businesses to look closely at the quality of the public schools in communities they are considering for a future facility," according to the article by Chief Editor Bill King. He writes that businesses examining future site locations "need to remember that the public schools are the institutions that are producing your future work force."

"How well they do their job in educating your future workers will, in a very real sense, determine how successful (businesses) will be in that location," King writes in the magazine, which is distributed monthly to business executives. "That’s the real reason why public schools are an important site location factor."

Expansion Management magazine online article

Posted May 11, 2006