Thank you to everyone for the thoughtful comments. Really, I should have posted this topic as "Looking for Discussion Group on 'Rethinking School!'" I blame S. W. Bauer for challenging all of my preconceived notions about public vs. home education!
My husband and I are products of moderately good public schools and have always been big advocates for public school. We choose to live in a small, old run-down house in a school district renowned for being one of the "best" so that we could send our kids there. I really believed the best way I could raise my kids was to work hard, read to them a lot, set a good example for being a lifelong learner, and earn enough money to send them to college. I always trusted that with "good enough" public schools and our efforts at home to read to them and enhance education on weekends they would do quite well (and maybe they will?)
What I am discovering, however, is that even the best of the public schools are constrained by testing requirements, No Child Left Behind, etc. We live in Texas, which calls for testing quite a bit throughout the school years. As SWB noted in her book, so many school days are devoted to test prep and practice, test administration, retakes, etc. and the teachers feel so much pressure to teach to the test. In addition, what we have seen with our older boys is that there is a significant amount of pressure to "pass" students in the name of No Child Left Behind. It is very difficult to hold kids accountable.
Our children have come to expect that each of their tests is but a first try--they always have the option to retest, often until they get a passing grade. I think this is good for students with test anxiety, and I think it's good that they review material they clearly didn't understand, but for one of my sons it has led him to expend the minimal amount of effort required in school and it seems like often the teachers end up lowering the requirements so that all of their students will pass. I could go on an on with other examples from my family and my teacher friends, but essentially it has been very eye-opening to read her book and have a lot of my previously nebulous concerns articulated so well.
It's tough at this stage to reconfigure or reconsider career plans, child care arrangements, etc. I wondered if there were others out there engaged in this process as well. I really appreciate the ideas about private schools (yes we have a well-regarded classical charter in our area), hybrid schools, etc. I have been brainstorming about how to adjust my work schedule as well.
For now, I am enjoying the opportunity to teach my kids whenever I can and be more directly involved with their learning processes. I'm glad this forum is available for questions, comments and sharing of experiences.