I think it depends on the schools in your area. We are sending DS to the private one and the girls will follow. The public school in our area is so bad I wouldn't send my dog there, let alone my kids. I know a little boy who was 7 and his mum found he had been taking a knife to school to protect himself from kids bullying him. We have had kids from that school bully DS when his been on our front yard, he was 3, these kids were 10-11 years old . DH went to the public school, he cant spell, his writing is so bad its barely readable and he was bullied so bad I think it still affects him in some ways. But I am not against public school, if we were in a good area with a good public school I would send the kids to it.