Look at the education, income, social and civil rights equality, and almost any other measure of a positive society - the named states are at or near the bottom, and show no sign of changing. Failure = is institutionalized and politicized. Outside of the Federally funded facilities, and small university campuses, there is a vast waste of human talent and resources. Much like the Taliban in Afghanistan, who have discarded the talent of half their population, the named states and a couple of others destroy their futures by coordinated and calculated ignorance and social/economic blindness. Every locality has some portion of this -- so those named places are not alone - but most other places are more diverse and do not have the success-stifling approach change.
There is no "...brain trust in the DC general area?" any more than the result of a positive approach to education, ideas, economics, individual talent, and tolerance for differing ideas over the broader region. Beneficial change is not easy, and many mistakes are made and will continue to be made. But unless a large jurisdiction, such as a state tries, it will never give its residents the same opportunity to succeed that exist elsewhere in the country.