On getting riled up about public school

I just read an interesting article advocating for the public school system and more or less against private schools, and realized that this exact dichotomy has been on my mind a lot. I'm a product of the California public schools, through the university level, and I'm currently a graduate student at a public university in Oregon. My children, the ones who are old enough, attend a public school. It's imperfect but worthwhile. We've exercised our district-approved right to choose their school, and have never regretted it. It's not our neighborhood school, and the commute is the one thing that bothers me about sending them there, but it's a small town and the drive is actually only about six minutes long and we walk or bike when weather permits. We chose this school initially because they offered a bilingual immersion program; this has been amended a bit over the years, but Spanish is still being offered for fourth graders and up, which I certainly appreciate. They also have a full time music teacher and the most culturally diverse population in the district. I don't think my kids would be exposed the variety of experiences and socioeconomic realities anywhere else in town, and I see this as a valuable attribute that private schools, at least the ones in my community which are all expensive and religious (neither of which would describe me!), can't offer. I'm finding that I just really believe deep down that though there are plenty of challenges, our public schools are not broken and that with enough enthusiastic involvement from teachers, parents, and other citizens the schools can be vibrant and inspirational centers of our communities.