[caddemon]

Not only that but a career public school teacher in many places can retire with a nice pension, private school teachers don't. Even if you look at some of the best private high schools in the country the teacher salary just isn't great.

The only way it makes sense financially to teach at a private school is if you have kids you want to go there. Many schools will do reduced or even free tuition for teachers' kids. It's relatively common for private school teachers to either be early retirees from a more lucrative field or have a spouse that works.

That said, many private school teachers do it because they have more flexibility in designing a curriculum, are much less likely to encounter disruptive students, etc. Private schools also don't actually do 180 days. So it is a more enjoyable job day to day for sure.