A big problem that southern states seem to have is that they tend to organize schools at the county, rather than the municipal level. On the plus side, this usually means lower property taxes. On the negative, this usually means that kids from the ghetto parts of the county go to the same schools as those kids in the white collar precincts, something unheard of in most of the NE.
Of course, I'm also for abolishing most public education, so you can take what I say with a grain of salt.
Here in Texas it is on the municiple level. Each small town has its own school district. However, in Georgia, where I lived before Texas, and in Florida, where I lived from 2002-2005, it is on the county level as you mentioned.