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?
Yes. I went to a magnet school.
This school had both normal classes and magnet classes.
I was very intimidated by the magnet classes, so I never applied until my last year. When I did get into the smart classes, I realized they weren’t necessarily more difficult. The biggest difference was that the kids who didn’t want to be there and constantly distracted the class were absent, so we were able to get more done every day.
Also, the teachers are generally better (less likely to get a Football coach who teaches on the side). But the curriculum is the same.
I was pissed that I wasn’t in those classes sooner.