Hi. I have taught in a public and a private school, and the experiences were quite different. As a first year teacher, I probably would have benefitted more from teaching in a public school. Since there is more at stake in public school (STANDARDIZED TESTING ARGHHH), there is a lot more collaboration and sharing with the other teachers (whether or not you want to--sorry). The curriculum is much more prescribed. But, your first year teaching, it might be helpful to know what your kids need to achieve and have people helping you make that happen. It might not be your idealistic dream of teaching young minds, but it's not exactly the opposite, either. If you are more interested in doing your own thing and no one giving a fuck what they learn, then you should consider private school. When I taught in a private school, I made up my entire curriculum. My problem was that private school was my first year teaching, so I kind of had no clue what I was doing and no one really had a pressing reason to help me.

So there you go-- you might be less disillusioned teaching private school, although it is harder when you are starting. I know we aren't talking about income, but something to remember is that public school teachers typically get paid more (to the tune of 10K where I'm from, anyway).