The answer to the second question is pretty obviously no. There are maybe 20 private schools in the US which are genuinely worth the price over public schools. They're not just offering a comparable to better education. They're offering the children of the middle class an entree into the upper class. (Relatedly, the con which the 2nd tier private schools are running is selling parents the idea that just paying a lot for an education is a ticket up.)

All of which seemed relevant to me since the author of TFA was making sacrifices to send his girls to Emory & Stanford.