They are talking about non-higher ed when referring to "schools".

My experience with elementary school in California vs. Florida as a kid had such a disparity in quality in favor of California that I was able to notice it even at that young of an age. I came to figure out why much later in life, but I'll never forget that feeling like I'd taken a huge step back.

Maybe as a kid. But Florida kicks California's ass in K12 education these days. https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles/stateprofile?chor...

*According to Californians

According to most charts, numerous Universities in California are generally high ranking (the UC system, USC, Pepperdine, Stanford among them) but within numerous specialties it's indisputable: UCSD for biotech, UC Davis for Ag-tech/veterinary science, Berkeley/Stanford for CS, Boalt/Hastings/King for Law, etc. The specialization matters here significantly.

The US weirdly in general has a lot of high ranking universities, but its elementary and secondary schools are very very uneven, at any level.

It’s not an exclusive list; a lot of states have good tech universities. But it’s a pretty objective evaluation. Ask a tech employer anywhere.