Moving to NC from NY

My family is looking to move to NC from NY. Before anyone attacks me for that, there are multiple reasons. We'd like to be closer to family and quite frankly, NYS is so damn expensive its insane. I work in healthcare and do very well and yet we still live only semi comfortable because of how high COL is. We do have one baby so I'm skeptical considering I know everyone says the school systems are a major downgrade to NYS. Would love to get people's takes on which areas have good school districts so we can make an informed decision before making the move. I have done extensive research and seen a lot of mixed reviews overall. We have also consider SC but from my understanding the school systems down there are even worse? Can someone confirm this? TIA!