My son attends a school through our church and they use the aBeka program. ( http://www.abeka.com ) I feel the education he is getting is second to none. The school started them writing in script instead of block writing in kindergarten, They really push the kids academically. His spelling list for first grade is about what fifth graders in public schools learn.
Our school will have kids that transfer from the public schools occasionally and those kids really have a tough time keeping up. I feel sorry for them because when they come from the public schools to our school, it is like they are jumping about two grade levels.
Kids can get a decent education in some public schools. The biggest factor is parental involvement. If we lived in Dublin or Upper Arlington I would most likely send the kids to those schools, but there is no way I would send them anywhere near CPS. If you have parents that dont care, why should the kids care and why should the teachers care. Like I have said before I went to Johnson Park middle and Eastmoor high, I survived, but I would not want to expose my kids to what I witnessed in school.