I had first hand experience with both public and private schooling. I switched schools after my high school sophomore year - I went from a catholic college prep school to a public school in a suburb. I had to switch schools because the catholic one raised their tuition and my parents wanted to move out of the city. I went from an average/below average student to an honor student at the public school. Like 2.0 to 4.0 in less than a year. I struggled at the private school because they loaded students down with homework - an average of 3 hours a night, while the public school gave us about an hour's worth. In fact, some of the regular classes I took at the private school ended up being honors classes at my public school - like chemistry.