Speaking from experience of many sides of the schooling system, I went to both public and private schools and now work in a university.
Public School
I did not enjoy public school at all, due mostly to the read and repeat "teaching method" used by overworked teachers. Discussion was discouraged as this would take too much effort and research.
Private School
The private schools I went to had a three tiered system: Advanced, Intermediate and Assisted. In the assisted classes students were taught at a lower level and given more attention by teachers, these students were the ones who would fail without help. Intermediate - students capable but struggling. Advanced - taught at each students individual pace, given extra work when necessary and a lot of "Independant Learning". Whilst the independant learning was available, we were restricted to certain things to research. E.g. subject of ancient rome we were given specific topics to cover - manner of dress, timeline of the rulers/ruling bodies, food, imports and exports. Whilst some people would have prefered to read about Centurians, at least we got to choose how we learnt. The teachers were always welcoming of discussions, and in our English literature classes every Friday morning was devoted to group discussion.
University
I was given the job of clearing out one of the old archive cupboards (c. 1960's) and noted that most students could spell and write in structured sentences. However, they were not expected to know the level of detail students today are required to know. Universities, in general, do not test the academic ability of the applicants as they rely on the governing body of the school system.
Challenging a Teacher
At one private school we had an absolutely useless teacher (yes just one), who wrote things on the board and expected us to read and repeat. Given that this was an Advanced Science class, you can imagine the uproar. This teacher ignored my raised hand for 4 weeks (believe me, after a double lesson -1.5hrs- my arm was killing me).The students rebelled against his teaching style, we were sitting important examinations within 5 months, and the teacher was fired. This teacher would have been very acceptable to the public schooling system, and in fact got a job at one of the local public schools the next year.
Summation
Whilst I believe the public schooling system, worldwide, needs a good restructuring, the private sector seems to be getting it right. Students these days do not know how to spell, but when it comes to how much information they now have to store - I can understand why some standards are slipping. Perhaps primary/elementary schools need some stricter guidelines on acceptable English language skills.
Where would I send my kids? Private, of course, after thoroughly checking the teaching methods out.