There seems to be a bit of confusion about what a Public school is.
Iain is correct in that we would call an American Public School a State school in the UK. However all we mean by State Schools in this country is that they are public schools where the fees are paid for by the government.
This then begs the question of what is a Public school, so heres my effort on a defination.
A Public school is a school where there is no barrier to entry due to ability, race, colour and creed (aka religion).
I take back my previous dig at themusic cos I think his reply to me explains his point better.
what I took offense at in his posting originally was that it seemed to suggest that the only sort of education system alowable in a democracy was a state run one and that having any other systems in place would mean that "democracy is not one of your principles."