I am also a public school educator, but my children have never attended public school. Our home district is highly-regarded (though not elite). I knew when we moved in (prior to children) that their rep was excellent for bright average, adequate for average, variable for special needs (depends on the need), and questionable for GT. I also knew that the district was no better and no worse than most of the surrounding communities, with the exception of the nearest mid-size urban center, which is considerably better for both extremes (but probably slightly worse for average learners). Having lived here for some time, subsequent observations have been consistent with my initial impressions.
For example, there is a consistent rigidity regarding allowing children to access learning standards above their nominal grade placement, even by a single grade, and even when there is a whole group of children in the same class who are, on the teacher's own assessments and by his/her own admission, performing well beyond the state-mandated standards for that year. Of the likely HG+ students I know who have attended the PS, all of them have reported being used as teaching assistants ("in-class peer tutoring" or "cooperative learning groups" where they did all the work) for much of their education, instead of being provided with instruction anywhere approaching their levels. Some have been bullied over years, to the point of clinical depression.
We enrolled the first child directly into a tiny private, but eventually ended up uniformly home schooling. My experience on the inside of multiple public school districts (spanning both low-performing urban and elite suburban) indicated to me that the amount of time and energy that would need to be invested in GT advocacy (let alone 2e advocacy, which it emerged that we would have needed with one of the children) would be better spent encouraging and educating the children themselves. And skipping the potential conflict seemed like a healthier choice than attempting to shield them from it. We were in a position to homeschool, so we did. Our homeschool community is vibrant and engaged in the community (and, to be fair, the local school district is supportive of this, with relatively un-burdensome reporting requirements, and a generous ala carte policy with regard to hybrid home schooling), which has helped to make the decision to continue home schooling an easy one.
