> In Texas, it seemed more like getting a good secular education for your kids was something that you had to pay a lot for, one way or the other -- either living in a super affluent neighborhood or finding private schools.

I have to disagree with this. I graduated from a regular public school in Texas and there was nothing sectarian about the education and it was far better than the public high school I attended in the SF Bay Area (they could actually afford things like copy paper, something my CA high school stopped buying due to budget cuts. They also dropped all advanced courses, this in a neighborhood with houses reaching $1 million).

I lived in an affluent neighborhood in Texas, yes, but the bar to afford such a neighborhood isn't very high here. ~$250k homes in that area for some of the top-ranked high schools in the nation.