Public V Private. weird subject for this board, but I have experience with both. The issue, like lots of things in life, is whether extra money is worth it, and I can tell you with certainty that.........it depends. I agree with Slidellkid above.
I grew up in an area where the private school was definitely better up through 8th grade. But public high school was arguably better than the local private school. Then I had kids, moved elsewhere, and found that the public elementary school was better than the private, and the public high school HONORs curriculum beat the crap out of the private option. So that's where I sent my kids (public), and today they're both doctors, one is a M.D. the other a PhD. BUT....It doesn't matter where you send your kids if you don't teach em to learn at home, help em with homework, get them excited about math and science, take em to museums, help with science fairs, assist judge their speech competitions, volunteer as den leader, share how cool it is to be smart and tell them they're special. Gain their respect and tell them life is tough, but it's tougher if don't study hard. If you don't do that, you might as well save your money, cause they're stuck in mediocre drive and you won't need to spend money on college, cause they won't be "college material". Conversely, if you do those things, they'll be successful almost anywhere you send them, and you'll save a bundle on TOPS.
JUST MHO.