Brooklyn, in front of Fort Hamilton High School.

Bill, who still slept until he woke up naturally, went to his old high school on weekdays to see if he could continue to study in grades 10 to 12, take AP credits, and take the SAT.

Like the rumors that Bill Gates's mother is a director of IBM, there is a deep false impression that has been circulating on the Chinese Simplified Internet that American public schools are poor, students drive impart guns to smoke leaves, and private schools are generally better than public schools.

In fact, this is a very one-sided view, even in two schools in the same community, there will be differences between the principals and teachers because of their different philosophies.

There are 19,314 public high schools in the United States, more than 8,200 private day high schools, and more than 300 boarding private high schools, of which New York has more than 1,260 public high schools, Texas has more than 1,700 public high schools, and California to the west has 1,243 private high schools.

One in seven private high schools are concentrated in California on the West Coast, while public high schools in New York, Texas, account for one-sixth of the nation's total. In a general sense, the public education system in the northeastern United States is relatively complete, and the quality of public schools is also preferred, and the public schools in the Midwest and the South, which are developed later, are the American high schools in the Internet stereotype.

There are two main factors that determine the quality of public high schools in the United States, one is whether the community is settled by high-income people, and the other is the quality of students.

Generally speaking, public high schools with a large number of East Asian students, especially those with a large number of Chinese students, are not much worse.

For example, the public high school in Flushing, Queens, New York, because Flushing is the largest Chinese community in North America, so 55% of the students in this high school are Chinese, which makes the school's average SAT score and AP score ridiculously high, and therefore, the high school has become the first public high school in New York State, ranking about 12 in the United States.

If it weren't for the fact that colleges and universities limited the proportion and number of Chinese American students because they were too busy in education, Flushing's high school would definitely hit the top three or even the first high schools in the United States.

As far as Bill knows, the high school he dropped out of is ranked in the state of about 200, which is not low.

He was able to go to this high school before because public schools in the United States generally admit nearby residents, which belongs to the kind of click and delivery, only look at the water, electricity and gas bills of the last two months, and do not need the community to give you any certificate.

At the extreme, as long as a student can prove that he or she lives in the community near the school during the post-enrollment examination, that is, he can receive various bills from the school, then he can not live here.

But once the fraud is found out, the consequences will be borne by yourself.

Some Chinese Americans take advantage of this loophole to send their children to friends' homes to get admission to good public high schools. (If you encounter a friend who drills a loophole like this, please break off the friendship on the spot)

Another example is Williamsburg, the northernmost part of Brooklyn, which is very close to Manhattan in the center of New York City, and became synonymous with the New York fashion scene in the 21st century.

The rise in housing prices means that residents' incomes have increased, and the community has become more upscale, and the quality of public high schools in this area has improved.

But in the '80s, even Manhattan was synonymous with chaos, shooting, and disorder, and Brooklyn's reputation was not much better. In the eyes of ordinary Americans, Brooklyn at this time was roughly equivalent to a mafia stronghold, a mecca for immigrants of Italian origin.

The stereotype is much different, and Brooklyn's status in Italians is about the same as that of Flushing, Queens next door, in the hearts of Chinese Americans.

The poor living environment makes the students in public high schools worse than those in public high schools of the same grade.

But no matter how bad it is, it is still difficult for a student who has dropped out of school for two years to come back to class.

But it doesn't matter, Americans eat the prodigal son the most, and Bill is Italian, both parents died, and in the original version of political correctness, this buff is still much stronger than the average student.

At the school gate, although Bill's huge body made the two security guards a little nervous, he was not too embarrassed after he revealed his intention and identity.

A white security guard, who may be of Irish descent, helped him call the principal's campus phone, while another black security guard took him to the principal's office.

The headmaster's name is George Jackson, and he is a balding middle-aged, lean white man, and according to his name and baldness, this person is eighty percent of English descent.

This is commonly known as the WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) group. This group was the first of the descendants of immigrants to come to North America, and therefore occupies the most upstream ecological niche, and is the founder of American politics, economy, culture, and education.

In addition to the WASP, the two groups of Irish plus Catholics and Germans plus Protestants have the highest status, and the status of Italians and Catholics is quite low among whites, and even in the eighties of the twentieth century, Italians could not be called white.

And the Merglot, the American president of the United States, who is the favorite joker of the fun people on the Internet, belongs to the category of Irish and Catholic. Lezong was the first U.S. president to break the monopoly of the WASP group on the position of the Grand Commander.

"Principal Jackson, that's the ......," Bill began to tell what happened to him after dropping out of school, as he had envisioned, with a handful of snot and tears, and then showed how he had come to understand the importance of learning and his previous ignorance.

"Maybe it was my father and mother who gave me a new direction in life under God's guidance, and on a night when no one was around, I felt that such a life was too mediocre, and going back to school was the right way."

"I love learning, I must finish high school, be admitted to a good university, and leave no regrets in life."

"The way to salvation is in the book."

"Just imagine, a person who loves learning, calculus, solid geometry, and analytic geometry, no matter how bad he is, how bad can he be?"

Bill did his best to act in front of the principal and black security guards about his remorse for being lost in the army and his rejoicing that he had returned home, and that only studying could ease his anxiety, and appropriately expressed his gratitude to the principal and the school staff.

If they can give themselves permission to go back to school and repeat their studies.

Principal Jackson quietly watched Bill's performance, and then said unhurriedly: "Son, you also know that once admitted, public schools cannot expel students, which not only protects you, but also other current students. It's September, and this year's slots are full, and I can't coordinate other students' slots for you. ”

He covered his mouth and muttered for a while, "Otherwise, I'll write you a letter of recommendation and let you go to another public high school." ”

Bill was a little dumbfounded, how could it be different from what he thought, he hurriedly said: "It's okay, I just want to go to our school, don't bother your recommendation letter." ”

George Jackson nodded, "What a good boy who loves to learn, since you must go to my school, then ...... Well. Come back next year, next June, and if you really have the heart, I can leave you a spot. ”

Then he waved his hand and asked the black security guard to lead the man away.

Bill was not reconciled, his mind was racing rapidly, and it suddenly occurred to him that he might not have given money.

American public schools also have a tradition of receiving sponsorships, giving money, everything is easy to talk about, and everything can be done.

"If I sponsor a sum of money to the school, will I be able to go to school this year?"

Jackson put down the document in his hand and held out his index and middle fingers horizontally with his right hand.

Bill asked tentatively, "Two thousand dollars?" ”

That's a lot of money.

"Twenty thousand." George Jackson was very clear about the number.

Bill understood, and the man didn't want to take him in, he just wanted to send him away.

There is no place for a master here, all Bill needs is a high school that offers AP courses, and there is no need to die here.

He turned to leave, and when he went out, he encountered four sturdy white men, one of whom was the white Irish security guard he had just met at the school gate.

"That's him."

PS: Ask for a collection, ask for a recommended ticket, ask for a monthly pass.