New Jersey is probably the most socioeconomically segregated state in the country, mostly based on its school districts. It has crazy real estate prices precisely so parents can get their children into specific, high-performing school districts. These districts bring the state average up very high, but best of luck if your district is in the bottom 50%.

The conclusion I drew is that even schools in the "top 2 states for K-12 education" are piss poor at education.

Where are you comparing to that has better outcomes?

Homeschool or China.

Homeschooling (in particular) has a bimodal distribution of outcomes depending on the reasons the parents do it.