I teach at a very good private school. In my state, public schools are pretty bad. Some private schools are not much better, but, to a certain extent, you get what you pay for. My school charges enough to pay for good teachers, good facilties, etc. The earlier posters have a very important point about the quality of family background. The best public schools serve neighborhoods with high property values full of families that value education, disicipline, and excellence. A private school can create that same kind of "neighborhood." I'm no better a teacher where I am now than I was when I taught in the inner city, but I have a very different starting point. As for the value of a teaching certificate, it's terribly overrated. I took the necessary coursework to earn my certificate in a single semester following my MA in my subject area (history). The courses were a joke, and I can honestly say the only good the license ever did was that I was legally able to be hired. Moreover, when the government changed the rules with No Child Left Behind, my wife suddenly became "unqualified" to teach a class she was currently teaching quite well until she jumped through hoops to get a different certificate. Finally, where I work now, my only job security is teaching my butt off every day (plus coaching). Knowing that every pair of eyeballs on you in class belongs to a paying customer has a real impact on your daily effort. My school has a 100% college acceptance rate, averages right at 1300 on the SAT, and I have numerous former students at Ivies, Duke, UVA, Stanford, service academies, etc. Not all private schools are comparable to this one, but there are some that are dwefinitely not a waste of money.