for us to send our kids there. My old high school friend had her primary school kids christened so they could go to a Catholic secondary school. She doesn't believe her kids will get a good education at the perfectly good public secondary school she's zoned in. When people start thinking like this, what hope is there? I must say also that it is a totally different issue depending on if you are based in the city to regional areas. (We are regional). City private schools are very pricey so therefore many I guess aren't able to make the choice about which school is best, it has to be based on what they can afford. I agree with what someone said earlier -- the real issue is funding for public schools so that the public schools have the money available to spend on facilities, training, staff and programs. I actually work in both private and public schools, and I would have to agree with another commenter above: it shouldn't be about private vs. public; it should be about school vs. school in your area. I also attended a state school, and international school (while overseas), and two private schools. Which provided the best experiences and education? The two private schools followed by the international school with the state school coming up last. I am not a snob. Nor did I ever have my "hand held". The curricula at the private schools were much more challenging than those at the other