Some thoughts on school choices

On the school debate, we basically have three broad options, though many more specific choices. My folks went the private, Christian school route w/ me. I think I received a superior education, especially in the language arts, but our school didn't have the money for the latest technology, field trips, experiments. Christian schools at times have less experienced teachers, again because of the money issue. Christian schools also fail to acquaint students with the challenges of living in a nonChristian world, and sometimes this need to stand up comes so late, a young person accustomed to fitting in, just can't bear to suddenly stick out and finds himself totally unprepared to take on the hostility of the college(if that's when he makes the move to the secular) or workforce he finds himself a part of. Should he never be part of the secular world moving from Christian school to Christian college to Christian employment (which was my situation), he hasn't had many opportunities to be a light and has a greater challenge connecting w/ the world he lives in and is to have an impact on. Christian schools may baby students too, failing to push them to their fullest potential, in an effort to be nice. And Christian kids in Christian schools can miss the fact that they must take a stand for God even among other Christians.
In a public school, the need to stand up is more obvious. The opportunities to share are certainly greater. The breadth of learning may be greater as well, though sometimes the depth, particularly in reading and writing, is lacking. Public schools also give kids more options for the future, with more acceptable credentials and perhaps skills more suited for the jobs they pursue as well as a greater sense of independence, practically and spiritually. But in public schools, a student may face innumerable pressures, at a very young age, that may break a tenuous and possibly not even truly personal faith.
Homeschooling's charm is the parent's involvement in the child's education and influences and academic advancement, but it's limited by the parents' goals for the child, willingness, and ability to fulfill them. It has some of the same problems and strengths of Christian school.
Whatever parents choose, it's so important they acknowledge that it's their role, not the school's, to help their child grow, to train their children, that they can impact their world for God. Not every family should make the same choice in schooling, nor necessarily even school every child by the same method. Without a doubt, individual schools should be examined as they can vary greatly. It's interesting that when I was teaching on the college level and had students from all three school backgrounds, it was virtually impossibly to make blanket generalizatons about the effects of any type of schooling on kids, as the family and the given student's choices have such an impact.