Web Log: Public School vs Private School

Yesterday in class we discussed the 'creation' of the public school system in the United States.  This history is fascinating to me particularly because it deals with the struggle of education and religion which are two of the most important things in my life (family being up there as well).  When I was in high school I would always wonder how my education would differ if I had gone to a private and especially a catholic high school.  During our discussion yesterday, I had the opportunity to hear about private school education from people who attended some, and I was very interested in the fact that religion was something that was taught in school.  This would have been a wonderful class to take not as a purely christian religion class, but more as a world/general religion course.  Another aspect we touched on was if private schools really do provide opportunities that public schools can't.  Kate was telling me about someone she knew who went to Hawken for high school then to an aclaimed private school for college, and who now is a professor at Stanford and other Ivy league schools.  I wonder if he would have had those same options if he hadn't attended a private high school.  This discussion has made me think more about having my final research paper focus on the differences both modern and historically between public and private schools.