First of all, I don't think that the 1A Privates have cornered the market on attitude and work ethic. I think Publics like Cloudland, South Pitt., Gordonsville, Collinwood, etc... that usually have pretty competetive teams almost every year have displayed a little bit of work ethic. They only play the kids that grow up in their small towns, and can't replenish from other areas. I think that shows a lot of attitude and work ethic.
What ever you or any other parent feels is best for their child is the right thing to do. But along the lines of this argument, let me ask you why is it that the 1A Privates that are now dominating are all in Metropolitan areas? Do you see a school like Friendship Christian (not from a big town) up there with DCA, CPA, Boyd, and the like? The whole issue is a level playing field. How does a team like Lookout Valley (17 kids) expected to compete yearly in football with Boyd (60 something kids)? Do you see public schools running newspaper ads or having billboards on interstate highways? You are asking teams from towns of 2 or 3 thousand to compete with teams that pull from areas of 300,000 or better.
I know several parents that send their kids to these schools, not all of them are even athletes. You have to admit, and I know this for a fact, that a lot of parents live through their kids in sports. There are a lot of kids in this country that spend a lot of time in specailzed camps (trying to be the next Tiger Woods) and they want them to play on winning teams. I know several of them that send their kids to privates for that particular reason. Don't get me wrong, that is a choice and that is fine. There may be a lot of other parents that would take the same route if they had the financial means to do so. But the underlying argument is that the small town publics are restricted by area and pure numbers, so it is getting harder and harder for them to compete. I think all the are asking for is to compete against schools like themselves. You said yourself there seems to be some advantage, and I also believe there is.