Public schools get plenty of shade thrown their way. They're underfunded. Outdated. Overenrolled. Can't afford great materials for the kids. They teach to the test, and often those teachers aren't so well trained. Not safe, not academically rigorous, not enough individualized attention.

You name it, someone's critiqued it.

And it's all true—in some cases. There are plenty of other cases where all that would be codswallop. Public schools are as diverse as the good ol' U.S. of A. itself, and while many have their fair share of problems, the biggest mistake you can make is to swear off public schools as oversized, overpopulated, and any other overarching stereotypes.

Plus, you've got charter schools, magnet schools, selective schools, fish schools…there's a lot more out there than public vs. private (which is its own story, anyway) so let's get down to business.

What Makes a Public School Public

The bottom line: public schools are available to everyone. Things like family income or ability to fill out an application that make private schools private play no role in who goes to public school.

Does that mean they're sunshiney places where children of all backgrounds hold hands and sing kumbaya? Maybe in Berkeley, California, but in general, the demographics of a given public school will mirror (more or less) the demographics of the surrounding area. So sure, there's diversity, but a lower-income area or a Chinese-dominated community will see a similar setup in the local schools.

We know: thank you Captain Obvious. But still.

Plus, there's that little thing about the money, honey. We're talking about the state and federal funding that gives public schools their lifeblood. Some of that funding is dependent on how well the students do on their standardized tests (red flag #1, for skeptics of standardization). Which means that based on your local demographics (is there tutoring available? Can parents afford tutoring?), test achievements may differ, which may impact the school's income, which may mean it provides less for its students, which may contribute to a brutal cycle of poverty that America just can't shake.

Oof.

Don't get too down, though. Remember, public schools can vary quite a bit, and not just based on where they are. Though location can account for quite a bit, as there are over 14,000 school districts in the U.S. as of 2012, according to our favorite stats folks over at the Census Bureau. It's each school district that sets curricula, funding, and employment within district boundaries, though some guidelines (as well as educational standards and oh-so-scary standardized testing decisions) come from the state.

So that's public schools straight up. We've also got them with a twist—or shaken, not stirred. Aren't you just thirsting for knowledge now?

We're going to get to paraphrasing and elaborating on (with links to our source, of course) Teach.com's wealth of resources on all these topics.

Charter Schools: Public with a Twist

The first thing to understand about charter schools is that pesky word "charter." In a nutshell, a charter is a contract struck up between the school in question and a school district (usually; other forces can occasionally act as charter granters).

Next up: why get a charter? So that an independent school can still be a public school (i.e., open to all, funded by the state, you know the drill) but get out of some of the regulations that bind traditional public schools.

Which leads to a whole 'nother flurry of questions. Why bother to get out of those regulations? That answer's easy: who doesn't want to not follow the rules and get away with it? But beyond that, most charter schools are founded on a specific mission: in general, to provide an alternative option for education, implement a specific educational philosophy, or be based on a certain specialization (toward performing arts, students with disabilities, bringing on more innovate teachers, etc.).

The pluses: charter schools usually have smaller class sizes, function based on an ingrained sense of responsibility to the community, and are held to higher academic standards than your run-of-the-mill public school. (Why? Because that's the tradeoff for more autonomy.) Plus the whole specialization aspect means that some students get an education that's basically tailor-made.

As for admission, the idea is that it's open to all, but as you might imagine after all those pluses we rattled off, there's quite a demand to get in, so who does get in is usually determined by lottery. You can head on over to the hot-button zone to see how that debate unfolds.

Want more info? (Or to check up on our reporting? It's flawless, we promise). Head to Teach.com and its page about charter schools. Because hey, if you snatch the URL "Teach.com," you've got to know where it's at.

Magnet Schools: a Polarizing Move

Well, not really. We just can't resist a good pun (magnets, poles…well, a decent pun, anyway).

So.

Magnet schools started attracting other iron-containing objects—er, students—in the 1960s, when they were established in the effort to desegregate schools. (This was in the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education, a huge-deal Supreme Court case in 1954 that ruled for racial integration in schools across the country.

Beyond that, their goal was to bring in students from various districts based on similar educational interests, which would in theory lead to desegregation, without so much emphasis on desegregation (because some folks were not so into that at first. That's why you had to sneak around it with things like "educational interests" and the like).

What sets magnet schools apart today is that each one is highly specialized, with a focus on a particular area of study or teaching method. Have a thing for dance? Math nerd? Just really, really, love, clay? Oh don't worry: magnets have got you covered. Plus there's that emphasis on diversity, which stems from the neighborhood and racial elements of diversity that spurred the magnet movement in the first place, but now contributes to a wider array of students than you'll see in other types of schools.

But here's where it gets polarizing (heh). All those specialized programs mean that magnet schools get some extra bucks to maintain the focus and get the supplies to match. Those extra resources generally come with the added bonus of higher standards and reputations, which means, of course, that too many people want to enroll, so in turn, the schools have to turn up the selectivity nob. Selection is usually via lottery, but some schools require a standardized test or other application procedures.

Which just means, yet again, that public schools are becoming a little less public.

Selective Schools: Doesn't That Defeat the Purpose?

If you thought magnet was as selective as public school could get, well, think again. Yes, there is yet another level on the selectivity spectrum for schools that still qualifies as public.

Also dubbed "elite" public schools and maligned for being discriminatory in their admissions process and beyond, selective schools are usually at the high school level and you have to take a two-and-a-half-hour test to get in. That's right: when most kids won't even have the SAT on the brain for a couple years yet, these selective-school aspirants are sitting down for the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (or similar) for a crack at these big-deal secondary schools.

Pluses: these spots are praised for providing an engaging environment to students who would likely be torn between doodling cats and inventing new formulas in physics in a normal-paced classroom. The specialized education factor is a bonus for many, and the idea of "school choice"—that you can choose craft a better education for your kids—is a draw for many.

But is it really a choice if that admission test is such a toughie? Sure, there's nothing but good intentions behind folks who follow the urge to reform American education and offer higher-quality schooling to kids who want it. But for kids in lower-income neighborhoods who don't have access to the test centers, or whose parents aren't able to fill in the mountains of paperwork required to apply, these schools are just as inaccessible as the elite private schools that cost equal mountains of money.

Are you literally destroying the nation if you really just think your kid would be happier in private school? Or sending them to a fund-stealing selective public school? We'll leave that one up to you. But at least now you know there's more to the debate.