So I guess, as with anything, public school is what you make of it. We took advantage of those extracurricular programs and music classes. And I got a lot of my core classes because I love languages and history and reading and writing. It certainly doesn’t mean there aren’t flaws in the system. My brother did very poorly and my sister mediocrely (or whatever the adverbial form of mediocre should be) in those same schools, and even though I flourished academically, I still encountered problems and struggle with those same praise/value mindsets you mention.