So I’m Australian, and here in Australia we have schools for gifted children, where admissions are based purely on standardised test results. Near the end of primary school you go to a special place to take a test, and the test is designed to measure logical thinking and mental flexibility rather than academic experience. And if you score highly, you go to a special school with smart students of all different backgrounds.
And I liked Spider-Man Homecoming in large part because Peter Parker goes to a “magnet school”, which I’m told is the American equivalent. And it doesn’t have any dumb jock types; the school bully is a little Indian brat with rich parents. It felt like a more modern take on high school tropes than all the high school movies where nerds wear bow ties that feel like the writer grew up in the 50s.
Anyway, half of My polycule says that magnet schools are all fake and only serve the rich. There’s no way a low income white boy from queens could make it into a gifted school in our world, based purely on academic achievement. I’m aware that the American system is less fair and money plays a much bigger role, but I thought there was at least a chance that a genius kid could beat the system and get into a good school with good grades.
Do magnet schools exist? Is it all just lies by the rich?
*citation needed*
It’s pretty easy to make a 5 second google search rather than assume anything you don’t want to hear is fake and declare to everyone that you have zero critical thinking skills.
The bottom line is schools can’t get the average student to even the most basic standards with the current situation. Spending more money on a hand full of kids that aren’t tanking their metrics isn’t worth it when no amount of funding can get the rest of the students over the intended finish line. That’s all before you get pushback from groups complaining about the equity aspect of performance based advanced education.
Gifted education programs and schools are a meritorious system that promotes individual exceptionalism. There is little support for it in a lot of the country.