Great discussion, and I learned a lot.  When my parents brought me from China to Hawaii we couldn't afford a private school, but from the sound of it I probably would not have survived in a private school since I did not know English at that time.  In the public school I was able to be excused from English class and go to ESL class and quickly picked up English in about a year.  Then in ninth grade I was accepted to a fairly fancy private school on full scholarship, but our family moved from Hawaii to California and I didn't want to be away from my parents.  So they rented an apartment in a good school district so I could attend the school.  That seemed to be the most economic choice.  Later in my junior year of high school they purchased a home in a town that's seriously a block away from my high school, but happens to be over the county line and was valued a tens of  thousands dollars cheaper than the house next door. 
My high school had a policy that said if you moved out of the district you can still be a continuing student as long as you maintain a B average. 
 I really loved my high school and I don't think I would have fit in in that beautiful private school.  So I do appreciate going to public schools and never really experienced the other choice.  My husband said his parents let him choose his own schools and I think that is what we will let our kids do.  If they like the public school they see then that's great.