> All of the people I know who did better on their own
  > than in a classroom were able to do so because they
  > could gobble up half a library in a weekend. 

Can confirm. Small rural school (primary and middle), half of the teachers were not specialists on the subjects they taught. We were supposed to be learning English from the grade 4, but we had a "proper" English teacher for a year and then were taught by people who knew no English themselves. But I read a lot and it helped. I managed to be among the best students onward: be it the secondary school or the university. My take is: good teachers can motivate and inspire you a lot, but bad teachers can be ignored and should not hinder your education. I agree with Mark Twain here: "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education".