South Carolina

considering education requirements. There is also a pretty wide divide among counties. Urban/Suburban school districts are actually very good (in my experience). Poor counties tend to have poor facilities and outcomes. The Corridor Of Shame (https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a57474f36c7144b3a42932a4e37abd6c) tends to drag down the rest of the state. Education is not culturally a big deal (many would rather have #1 AP Football ranking versus a top 10 department ranking for their state college). As long as districts rely on around 42% local funding, the poorer counties will fall further behind.

Just as an aside, school districts in SC are weird to begin with. Greenville County has a population of nearly 550,000 and one school district. Spartanburg County (327,000) has 7 districts. My county (Greenwood County - population 70,000) has 3 districts.