I have been on both sides of the coin. My daughter attended private school in California and has been in a public school in another state for the past 6 years. The private school was a kindergarten to 8th grade. That private school was in a top rated school district and after 8th grade many students went to the high school and others continued with the other private schools in the area (there were 3 that offered high school). We paid $22,000/year for tuition. Did not include uniforms and some other things. On top of that, there was back to school night which was really about the head of school asking to donate more money. We'd give about $300 but there were families that would give a heck of a lot more....like $10,000 to even $30,000. Yes, there were families in that school with a lot of money and had more than 1 child enrolled. I knew of two families in particular that had 3 and 4 kids enrolled at one time. And let me tell you, the ones that gae the most, ruled the school. The main reason we put our daughter into private school was that the public school where we lived was horrible. We were sweating it as 8th grade approached because she'd be going into high school and we weren't the family living in the great school district. We looked for years for a home in that district but it was so expensive. A 2 bedroom/1 bath condo started in the millions. The private schools, there were 3, that were for high school, was like getting into college. Hundreds of students trying to get the small amount of openings available. At the time we left California, those private schools tuitions were about $35,000. I'm sure it's higher now, it goes up every year. We were happy with our daughter in the private school in California in the beginning, but as the years went on, we felt the curriculum was becoming dated, lack o technology and problems with the head of school (which she ended up leaving). She started public school in 5th grade when we moved and it wasn't an easy transition. Believe it or not, the work was harder in public school. A couple of times she'd be texting her friend in California and showing her what's she's doing in math and her friend said, "what the heck is that?!" In my experience, private school was about what you did for a living, how much money you made and how much of that you can give to the school. And truth be told, there were many families who were getting assistance who made a lot of money (and had trusts). Yes, it's true, they bragged about it and one of those families owned a string of hotels. Each private school is different but don't kid yourself about it always being better, sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. Most of the time everything is magnified because you're in that smaller bubble. The same problems exist...bullying, drugs, and most of all a sense of entitlement.