By Matt Rooney
For decades, New Jerseyans have been told that the Garden State’s eye-popping property taxes (now over $10,000 on average) and massive education budgets are simply the price of having some of the “best schools in America.”
Mississippi is making that argument increasingly difficult to swallow.
The Magnolia State — long synonymous with the bottom of national education rankings — has engineered one of the most dramatic academic turnarounds in the country. Its fourth graders now rank No. 9 nationally in reading and No. 16 in math, according to the Mississippi Department of Education.
Back in 2013?
Mississippi ranked 49th in fourth-grade reading and dead last — 50th — in fourth-grade math.
Even more remarkable, Mississippi ranks No. 1 nationally for fourth-grade reading and math score gains since 2013. Economically disadvantaged Mississippi fourth graders now rank first nationally in reading and second in math. Black fourth graders rank third in both subjects. Hispanic fourth graders rank first in reading and second in math.
Meanwhile, wealthy, highly taxed New Jersey is spending more than twice as much money to produce fourth-grade scores that aren’t dramatically better.
And that’s where this story gets uncomfortable for Trenton.
Twice the money, but not twice the results
The latest U.S. Census Bureau school-finance numbers put New Jersey’s FY2024 current spending at $27,234 per pupil, fourth-highest in America.
Mississippi?
Just $12,324 per student, fifth-lowest nationally.
That’s not a typo.
New Jersey spends more than twice as much per pupil on current operations.
Mississippi fourth graders aren’t just one of the best in reading and math gains — they’re the best in the nation. pic.twitter.com/0Pv7enwSxm
— Governor Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) August 16, 2026
Broaden the measurement to total education funding and the picture doesn’t improve. Reason Foundation’s analysis of 2023 revenue from federal, state and local sources calculated $30,267 per New Jersey student, second only to New York.
Mississippi’s comparable total funding was roughly $14,500 per pupil.
In other words, New Jersey taxpayers are putting up more than $30,000 per student while Mississippi educates a child with less than half that amount.
Yes, New Jersey has a significantly higher cost of living and corresponding higher salaries. Mississippi relies far more heavily on Washington, too: federal dollars accounted for 22.7% of its FY2024 school revenue compared with only 6.3% in New Jersey.
None of that, however, explains away Mississippi’s academic trajectory.
Mississippi changed what happens in the classroom
The lesson isn’t that Mississippi discovered how to educate children without spending money. Mississippi has increased education spending and teacher compensation, too.
The difference is what accompanied the investment.
Beginning with its 2013 Literacy-Based Promotion Act, Mississippi aggressively embraced evidence-based reading instruction, including phonics and the “science of reading.” Teachers received intensive literacy training. Struggling schools received literacy coaches. Students were screened early so deficiencies could be addressed before they became permanent.
And Mississippi did something increasingly foreign to an education culture obsessed with social promotion: it attached consequences to academic standards.
Third graders generally need to demonstrate sufficient reading proficiency before advancing, with exemptions and additional intervention available for struggling students.
The results are difficult to argue with.
While fourth-grade scores nationally have generally deteriorated over the past decade, Mississippi moved from 49th to ninth in reading and 50th to 16th in math.
Mississippi’s eighth-grade performance remains considerably less impressive, an important caveat for anyone tempted to declare the entire state’s education system “fixed.” But the elementary-school turnaround is nevertheless extraordinary.
And extraordinarily relevant to New Jersey.
Maybe money isn’t the answer to everything
New Jersey’s political establishment has spent decades treating education funding as a contest measured primarily in dollars.
More state aid. Higher budgets. Higher property taxes. More spending.
The implicit assumption has always been that more money equals better education.
Mississippi presents an inconvenient counterexample.
It isn’t outspending New Jersey. It isn’t even close.
It’s out-reforming New Jersey.
A state that ranked virtually dead last a decade ago has raced toward the front of the pack in elementary reading and math while spending a fraction of what New Jersey taxpayers shell out.
New Jersey still posts stronger overall fourth-grade scores. But that’s almost beside the point.
The shocking story isn’t that Mississippi has completely surpassed New Jersey.
It’s that Mississippi is catching us.
And it’s doing it while New Jersey spends more than twice as much per child.
Garden State taxpayers should be asking a question that Trenton’s education establishment probably doesn’t want to answer:
If Mississippi can produce one of America’s greatest educational turnarounds for roughly $14,500 per student, what exactly are New Jersey taxpayers getting for $30,267?
