I will skip over all the political bickering going on here and say to the OP:
Good luck with the CI on your son.
I've been 80% deaf since I was 4, wore hearing aids for 34 years, and had a CI for the last 7 years.
The only advice I can offer is: Your son will always be deaf. His CI is just a very powerful hearing aid, it may or may not help him hear everything. It is NOT a cure; it is just a prosthesis that will help him get through the real world out there.
Clear, good communication between the parents and child is paramount. Sign language is a big help, and lipreading is a big advantage. So is talking. Do NOT do what many of our 'old school' parents did to us- drop us off at the local 'special ed' department and let them deal with us. Stay involved in your child's life, and he will develop good self-esteem.
As for schools; it is like religion, everyone thinks their opinion is best. In my case, being the only deaf kid in the entire school district sucked. Being different from the others is guaranteed to cause social issues, however, everyone goes through difficult stages.
Let your son choose his friends, deaf/hearing/HOH. Having friends with the same background really helps.
Oh, and one last thing: True, some deaf people think it is a cruel mistake to "force" children to have CI's implanted. Think of it this way: All CI's have an on/off switch. If your child wants to be deaf, he can always turn it off.