believe you have misinterpreted the focus by locals that when they meet other locals here or on the mainland or elsewhere, is not to show that one went to a better school than another.  local people like to talk about the good ole times and people they knew growing up.  this is why the focus is on the high school rather than say college, as many go to mainland schools and even while going to college in Hawaii, there are no life long bonds created between these college students as would be in high school.  sure there are many bright and talented students who attend public schools and become rich ad famous.  but the general consensus is, students attending private school, especially punahou and iolani because they usually attract the more talented and bright students overall, their students usually becomes more successful than those who attended public school.  But this is not a knock either way.  locals want to know your life while growing up.