Getting teachers who know the subject matter isn't a bad idea. But perhaps we'd be better off scrapping certification altogether. Private schools have long done well with teachers who are not "qualified" to teach in the public schools. And 27 schools across the country now have programs that prove teacher enthusiasm trumps age, experience and, yes, certification. In schools in Austin, Texas; Philadelphia, New Orleans, New York and other cities (there's even a program in Hong Kong) seventh- and eighth-graders are going to school in the summer to be taught by high school and college students. It's called Summerbridge and it's run by the Breakthrough Collaborative, a private San Francisco-based organization founded in the 1970s. Breakthrough is privately funded, although some of the host schools take government money.

The goal is to get poor kids (65% of Summerbridge kids qualify for a free or subsidized lunch) to stop wasting their summers and get on track to go to college. Many of the teachers are Summerbridge alumni, but they all are still students themselves. (AmeriCorps, which often gives grants to aspiring teachers nearing their certification, routinely steers younger would-be teachers to Breakthrough.) The programs mostly use the facilities of private--typically secular--schools during the normally vacant summer months. The programs cost parents nothing and are academically rigorous. Students are tested at the beginning and end of each summer to see how much they've learned. (At Summerbridge, kids embrace testing as a chance to show off what they've learned.)

What Breakthrough is proving is that a serious curriculum will inspire students to travel great distances, give up much of their summer vacation and actually have fun in the classroom. The results are impressive. Nationally 46% of all Summerbridge kids go to a different high school (often a magnet school) than the one to which they would normally be assigned (the national average is 19%). And 51% of Summerbridge kids take algebra in eighth grade, vs. just 25% nationwide. Not surprisingly, these kids earn higher marks on standardized tests than their peers.

During the summer the kids spend six weeks going to classes full-time. In the mornings they focus on math and humanities, reading and debating literature as well as their own writing. In the afternoons they take less traditional electives, like hip-hop dance and other less academically rigorous courses.

But each day ends in the auditorium, where students are expected to show off--among other things--their public-speaking skills. More than a dozen kids took the stage for various presentations when I visited the school. Two who turned in particularly impressive performances came from the Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem. Tavon Rowe read a passage from Shakespeare's "Henry V." Blader Zenuni recited a poem he wrote that dealt with hate, violence and frustration at home. He was obviously nervous and stuttered. When he finished he was greeted with a roar of applause from his classmates, who understood that getting on stage was hard for him.

Most of the students seem confident, outgoing and at ease in the school. But on their first day, I was told, they are often awed by the facilities. They aren't sure if they will really be allowed to use the computers or the auditorium.

But possibly the most impressive aspect about the program is the teachers. As either high school or college students themselves, they are often only a few years older than the kids they are teaching (sometimes it's hard to tell teacher from pupil). So it's a learning experience for all involved.

Kirsten Carter read about The Town School's program on the Internet. She's a student at Hoffstra University during the year, and this summer is commuting in from New Jersey--it takes her an hour and 15 minute one way to teach at Summerbridge. She nearly fell out of her seat with excitement when I asked if she'd ever considering teaching full time if it was in year-round program modeled on Summerbridge.

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