The public schools in Palo Alto are better than the ones in Millbrae. There are 3 middle schools (junior high) and 2 high schools in Palo Alto. However, you're supposed to go to the assigned one in your neighborhood. Although you can request to transfer to the another one in Palo Alto, it's not guarantee that your request will be honored (depends on the space availability).
I briefly looked up the rent for an apartment of 700 sq. ft. in Palo Alto online, it's approximately $2700 - $3200/month.
You can check out: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/search/apa
Speaking of convenience, Millbrae might be better if you work in San Francisco since it's only about 30 minutes away. Also, there's BART (subway) station in Millbrae. More nice Chinese/HK restaurant in/near Millbrae.
In Palo Alto, there are not many Chinese stuffs around although there are many Chinese live there now. For better Chinese restaurants and Chinese grocery shopping, you'll need to go to Mountain View where is maybe about 15 minutes away if the traffic is good.