Suziguzi
I don't have an issue with public or private, it's the size of the school & the kids & families in the school.
My DD1 is in the Catholic school here. We pay $850 a year. She was in a public school last year, but there were only 14 kids in the school.
There is a public school here, but it's twice the size of the catholic (there are 170 kids at DDs school) & to be honest, while I know there are alot of great family's in the public school, there are also alot of kids with parents who are drug users, theives, alcoholics among other things. I didn't want her coming home one day asking to go back to one of those houses coz thats where her best friend lives. & I didn't want to have to explain that to her. She's too young to understand.
So where ever we live I am a person who weighs up where I live, what kind of town I'm in & what kind of kids are going to school there. I'm in a pretty bad town atm though.
Its a hard choice, but it's your choice. Do what you think is right.