Or privatize a lot of it... (not schools per se, but a lot of the other junk).
How do those schools rank against NYS schools? Georgia is the same way. One district per county for the most part, with the exception of lager cities, i.e. Atlanta city. One thing to remember about most of those schools... they're absolutely horrible.
The plan sounds good and all, but look at county size in the south. I drive through three on my way to work (Cherokee, Cobb, Fulton).
Georgia has 159 counties, New York has 66, five of which make up NYC. Could one Erie County district handle the needs of inner-city Buffalo schools and at the same time, Springville schools? Probably not. You'd end up with the out-of-touch SWAT team patrolled drop-out-fests we have down here.
-Jeff