In 2016, the Pittsburgh Business Times ranked Carbondale Area School District declined to 417th out of 493 public school districts for academic achievement of its pupils. In 2012, Carbondale Area School District declined to Warning Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status, due to lagging student academic achievement. In October 2015, Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale reported that Carbondale Elementary School was among the 561 academically challenged schools that have been overlooked by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. He also reported the Pennsylvania Department of Education failed to take any action to remediate the poorly performing schools to raise student academic achievement or to provide them with targeted professional assistance.