For the obvious, fine arts programs, I assume that you are suggesting things such as theater and music (group) programs, not painting/sculpture/photography or other "personal" programs. Both depend on your community. When I was in kindergarten, my father was teaching school in a mining town in Colorado. The graduating class had on average one student per year. This was public school. When I was in HS, I was in the largest school in the western half of the state, yet (as a member of the student state board of Thespians) when I visited other schools half the size of mine, located in Denver, they had performing arts budgets (my HS budget was $0, we had to raise all of our own funds) greater than the first college that I attended.
Now, for personal experience. We tried private school and public charter schools before we decided to educate our children ourselves. What was happening was that we did not have the same influence over the development of our children, either them being limited by the
system or being put into situations that were unhelpful/detrimental to their development. I was actually against home education at first when my wife brought it to my attention as an alternative. We studied it for a few months before making the decision to pull our daughter out of school and let her detox. Often we are asked about social opportunities (even though every teacher I had in public school drilled it into us that we were not there to socialize). To that I answer, there are tons of opportunities if you are part of any community. If you live out in the boondocks, then you wouldn't have those opportunities anyhow. Again, when our kids were in private and charter schools, the opportunites for performing arts were no greater (and often inferior) to those offered in the community. In many states those budgets are being cut anyway.
So, again, from my experience, when my daughter was interested in marching band, I taught her the basics (as I had been in band) and then she went to the public school to participate in the music program. She also took Chemistry at the same school and was top of her class. Then again, the teacher assigned to teach the class had never been taught how to teach chemistry (he was one of the athletic coaches) and had to rely on one of the other teacher's for lesson plans/tests and had to seek assistance for grading (this is better?). Her peers were upset that she threw off the "curve". For her other lab science required to go the college of her choice, we instead enrolled her in a community college, where again she excelled beyond the rest of the class (kids at a minimum two years ahead of her). I do not agree with your Ivory Tower model, but we are free to have different opinions.
I am not here to say that everyone should be educated at home. Far from it. The reason that I brought this article to the forum was to offer some points of thought to the community. First of all, this student could be seen as biting the
hand which
fed her. She excelled in a broken
system and then had the bravery to stand up in front of her peers and say that they may be better off than her. It could have been possible for her to lose her scholarships for this type of speech (stranger things have happened). Also, I wanted the community to have the opportunity to view different viewpoints. We are often
fed information from people we trust, but rarely do we think about what is being given. Instead, we are taught to store that information for future regurgitation, not as a tool for creating.
Here's another example for you, another performing arts example besides that of the TED video that I previously shared; Keith Moon of The Who. Keith Moon was a self taught drummer. He is often idolized in the musical community for his ability to
play many different combinations that would be nearly impossible to
play if he had been taught traditionally. Many instructors feel that, while he was extremely talented and could
play extremely well, that they could never in good conciousness teach his method. It is just "wrong". If you are interested in learning about this method, the information is available, but you will have to teach it to yourself, you won't find it in traditional education.
I am not stepping off the soapbox, because I don't feel that I have stepped onto it. I am not telling anyone how they should educate or be educated. I feel that I am in a group where ideas may be discussed.
Son of a teacher who left the
system over 20 years ago because it was broken then.
That's rich. I agree whole heartedly with this statement. After all, most public schools offer many opportunities for socialization. Since so many teachers have their hands tied by the administration, they cannot always turn that normal socialization into proper discussions. I highly recommend that you read the author, John Taylor Gatto, referenced by the valedictorian. He was a public school teacher who received many awards for his teaching. 
