Public or Private Schools in Boca Raton?

I reside, work & play in Boca Raton, FL where we have lots of schools to choose from.

• We have the Public Schools.
• We have the Public Schools that you can only get in by Lottery.
• We have the Private Schools

I have a 3 year old daughter, and another daughter who is a month old. I really have been thinking whether or not to sacrifice a lot to put my daughters in private schools or place them in public schools. I am a product of the Boca Raton public school system, but I was wondering how effective is the private school vs. the public school system.

We have toured 3 private schools.

1. St. Andrews Private School which is supposed to be one of the most advanced schools in the country. The issue with this one is that I am Jewish, and they do teach religion in school, and they do go to the Chapel everyday. The students however are made up of 30-40% Jewish. The other issue is it is $19,000 a year.
2. Donna Klein Jewish Academy also is a very academic school which incorporates my heritage and some religion, but also is quite expensive at $18,000 a year.
3. Pine Crest is probably the toughest to get into, and the toughest academically. It is about $18,000 a year. The location is amazing as I can walk to school.

The Public Schools I am looking into is Morikami, but they only allow 150 students in a year, and it is on a lottery system. The other one is Henderson which also is on a lottery system. The school I am zoned from is in an affluent area, but I do not really know the difference in curriculum. What are the most important factors when determining whether or not to send your child to Public or Private? Is it always cost? If cost was not a concern, would you send your children to a Private School? Is the perception because you have to spend all this money to send your child to a private school therefore it must be better?

My question to you is the schools with lotteries or private schools how much better are they, and in fact are they better? Is it the curriculum that is better? The teachers? How did you decide to send your child to public or private school? Thank you for your input.