I went to a private school in Alabama. Other students of the public schools in Alabama near me were clearly less well-educated than most of my classmates (I was the valedictorian, and my point is that those in the 85th percentile of our graduating class all basically trounced the public school upper-tier locally - not just me).

Part of my problem with public schools stems from that experience - I knew valedictorians from a few graduating classes near mine in the public schools closest to me, and they just weren't as well-educated. It's possible that I had an abnormal experience, but I doubt it - my father graduated from one of those same public schools, and he's extremely intelligent (mechanical engineer, owns a robotics engineering company). Even still, he chose to send us to a private school because he didn't expect us to get as good of an education in the public system.

Of note: the private school I went to paid significantly less to its teachers than did the public schools around. I'm very aware of this because my brother is a teacher. He had to make a conscious decision to forego higher pay for his ideals, because he too felt that the public school system just doesn't have as much to offer.

My point is, microscopes and money are not the problem I have with the public schools.