My mom was a public school teacher. My parents sent me to a Jesuit school after K-5. Best decision they could have made, and says a _lot_ about public education. She always talks about how they teach for tests and nothing else.
But how would you know that? You can't possibly compare what you did to what might have happened. And maybe your mom is just a bad teacher?
That isn't exactly a bad idea, given how much of life is actually a test.