The public education funding model varies widely from state-to-state. It's usually inaccurate to generalize about "quality" of education based on location because the primary factors tend to be the individual teacher, the class size and parental involvement.
Dan, now that we're within 150 miles of each other, I look forward to getting together some time. I absolutely agree that the Vancouver WA / Portland OR area is fantastic. I tried pretty hard to talk bigwill into moving there a few years ago.
Ken, because of you and Jen, your kids are going to get a great education regardless of the district or school they attend. You'll be involved, and they'll be ready to learn.
I'm a little surprised you didn't mention commuting or transportation infrastructure in your criteria. You are fairly spoiled in this area at the moment, and obviously have a pretty high threshold of pain relative to how much time you're willing to spend commuting.
My opinion is that there are too many micro-zones within your question for it to be meaningfully addressed here. You're really talking about a geopolitical boundary the size of a neighborhood (or an elementary school or - at largest - a school district) rather than a State.
Honestly, especially in the current economic climate, my opinion is that you have to let your job/career drive the location.
