DH and I have discussed this at length. We are both pro public schooling, but if the local public school fails our children then we will consider private schooling. Both of us went to a number of different public schools, both good and bad. I found the best school for me was the "rough" public one with the bad rep, surprisingly it had many subject choices and facilities along with teachers who were eager to help those willing to learn. DH on the other hand suffered by going to the local high school which was agriculture based, great if you were taking over the family farm, but not if your interests lie elsewhere (ie computing). So certainly as everyone else had suggested the actual school needs to be looked into, not just its private or public status.