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State officials say county prison’s elevator doors would have been inspected

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More than 1,000 bid Kristopher Moules farewell

<p>Bad news for those who can do math: A new analysis ranks Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton 126th out of 150 Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA) reviewed from &#8220;best&#8221; to &#8220;least&#8221; educated in the nation.</p><p>The new rankings come from wallethub.com, a prodigious producer of rankings based on a wide range of topics from best cities for Texas families to worst cities for driving.</p><p>The new rankings look at the percentage of adults 25 and older with varying education degrees from high school to graduate degrees, public school quality and the gap between minorities and whites in attaining higher degrees.</p><p>Not only did the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton MSA rank in the bottom 25 nationwide, it fared poorly among others in the Keystone state. Five MSAs ranked higher (though in fairness, York/Hanover was only one place higher) while only two &#8212; Lancaster and Reading &#8212; ranked lower.</p><p>Ann Arbor, Michigan, which bills itself as A-squared, or A2 (official website a2gov.org), was the best educated metro area on the list, giving the University of Michigan some sort of bragging rights beyond being home of President Gerald Ford, Darth Vader voice James Earl Jones and mono-named pop diva Madonna.</p><p>At the bottom of the list: McAllen/Edinburg/Mission, Texas, an amalgam of municipalities just north of the Mexican border and about 80 miles from the Gulf coast. McAllen&#8217;s website boasts &#8220;the largest illuminated holiday parade in Texas&#8221; each December, while Edinburg recently opened a new customs facility at its airport, making it international.</p><p>The best educated MSA in Pennsylvania? Pittsburgh, ranked 43rd. Go Penguins, Pirates, Steelers and Carnegie Mellon University&#8217;s Scotty, the Scottish terrier!</p><p>Wallethub&#8217;s <a href="https://wallethub.com/edu/most-and-least-educated-cities/6656/" target="_blank">&#8220;2016&#8217;s most and least educated cities&#8221;</a> notes that adults with a college education typically have more job options with better pay than those without. It also cites research by the Economic Policy Institute that shows cities with better educated workers tend to get more in tax dollars.</p><p>&#8220;In states with the least schooled work forces, the median wage is $15 an hour compared with $19 to $20 an hour in states where 40 percent or more of the working population holds at least a bachelor&#8217;s degree,&#8221; the report says. &#8220;Local governments appear to be catching on and maximizing the appeal of their cities to college graduates.&#8221;</p><p>The site used data grouped into two fields: &#8220;Educational attainment &#8221; and &#8220;quality of education and attainment gap.&#8221; The local MSA scored 121st in the former, but tanked at 146th, four from the bottom, in the latter.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Wallethub ranks region 126th out of 150</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Area gets low spot in new education ratings