If I had a child with special needs and that's what it cost to give them a chance at a good education, then yes, I would.

If we can't afford to send DD to a private school when we are planning to (she's booked in from year 5 onwards), then we won't go into debt for it, no. We can supplement her (comparatively) free public school education with extra tutoring, if she needs it, or extracurricular activities (music lessons, etc) if it doesn't seem that the local school has as much available in an area that suits her as we would like. I went to a state school and I have two and a half degrees (one a postgrad, which are all paid for!). The value placed on education by families does not necessarily correlate to the amount of money spent on it.