I wasn't trying to say that private schools are always better, but they do provide an escape hatch if you live in a place with a crappy assigned public school. An escape hatch that is only available if you have the ability to pay, and perhaps pay a lot. I haven't done a lot of shopping for private schools, but BASIS Silicon Valley is $25,000 per student per year. That's a lot. Two kids cost $46,000 per year. That's insane.