美国的富人很多会送孩子去私校。大家一定听说过这些顶尖的私校： Phillips Academy Andover， Phillips Exeter Academy， Groton School，Milton Academy，Middlesex School，Deerfield Academy，The Thacher School等等。这些贵族学校除了学费高，教育质量一流，进好大学的比例也高。美国普通人不能进吗？能。它们也象好的大学一样，有need-based的助学金。但有限的位置导致了激烈的竞争，离家住宿也让不少父母却步。美国公立系统有没有象这些私立学校一样注重教育质量的学校呢？有。这就是美国的磁校（magnet school)。
磁校起源于六十年代，是为了打破中小学种族分隔而建立起来的。美国的中小学是以就近上学为原则的，在城市里，贫民区往往是非裔或其他少数民族集中的地方，这样就导致了不少学校学生的种族单一，学校之间学生教育水平的差别也就自然而然地和肤色连在了一起。是强制性地把学生从一个区拉到另一个区（我知道有学区为了学校种族平衡，搞抽签的。），还是在大家不愿意去的学校里建立一个特殊的program，象磁铁一样来吸引学生呢（磁校名字的由来就是这个）？显然后者更有吸引力，也得到了政府的鼓励。根据统计数据，这类磁校每个学生的花费就比普通学校一年多200块。用来吸引学生和家长的东西五花八门，象一个好的math/science program，一个好的music/band program等等。但大多数学校还是以学习相关的program作为吸引家长和学生的手段。
从这个磁校的来由就知道磁校往往是在大中等城市。在乡村和小城市，一个学区没有集中的贫民区和单一种族集中的住宅区，也就没有必要建磁校了。纽约市大名鼎鼎的磁校有 Stuyvesant High School，The Bronx High School of Science和Brooklyn Technical High School。
历史是往前走的，磁校也一样，在适应社会的变化。今天的磁校分为三类：
在同一个学区之内的有gifted program的中小学磁校。这些学校往往比较老，坐落在贫民区附近。这是学区为了拉平各学校之间学生成绩的差距，同时也让各种族的学生混合在一起。这类学校还是归当地的学区管理，只招收本学区的学生。小学初中往往有校车，高中往往会有公共汽车来解决。学校的经费除了政府按人头分配的资源外，还有学区所在地的住宅的房地产税。
跨学区的磁校。这类学校往往是大学附中，不归任何学区管理。学校经费的主要来源往往靠州政府按学生人头来分配的政府资源。由于不能拿到当地的房地产税，家长的捐助往往也是学校经费来源的一个重要部分。没有校区的校车，孩子上学必须靠父母每天接送。由于是公立学校，也就没有学费一说。但一般书籍和杂费会比上面第一种磁校的花费要高一些。
住宿磁校。这类往往是州政府建立的高中，比较有名的象Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy（IMSA)。由于是公立，所以也没有学费和住宿费。象IMSA每年每个学生的开销是2800左右。当然，孩子出门在外，一些隐性的开销是不可避免的。
大多数磁校都需要申请，往往有特殊的考试和要求。有心的父母可以上感兴趣的学校网站找资料。下面是Newsweek 2010在它的公立学校排名之外另外列出来的Public Elite学校。这些学校因为是磁校，学生是挑选过了的，自然不能和普通高中一起排名：
America's Best High Schools: The Elites
Jun 12, 2010 8:00 PM EDT
NEWSWEEK’s Challenge Index is designed to recognize schools that challenge average students. These top-performing schools, listed below in alphabetical order, were excluded from the list of top high schools because, despite their exceptional quality, their sky-high SAT and ACT scores indicate they have few or no average students.
Bergen County Academies, Hackensack, N.J.: A collection of seven career-focused academies where students have an extended school day.
Biotechnology High School, Freehold, N.J.: A demanding program started in 2005, with two large research rooms, four state-of-the-art science labs and 73 percent of the class of 2009 earning an International Baccalaureate diploma.
Bronx High School of Science, New York: One of the most famous schools in America for many years. It has a richly talented, ethnically diverse student body.
Early College at Guilford, Greensboro, N.C.: The state’s first early college high school, where 11th and 12th graders take courses at Guilford College and graduate with both a high-school diploma and up to two years of college credit.
Gatton Academy of Math and Science, Bowling Green, Ky.: Juniors and seniors from all over the state are selected by scores, grades, and essays to live in their own Western Kentucky University residence hall, earning college credit as well as completing high school.
High Tech High School, North Bergen, N.J., and High Technology High School, Lincroft, N.J: Both opened the same year, 1991, use the increasingly popular High Tech High name and are magnets emphasizing hands-on learning. But the Lincroft school is run by Monmouth County and Brookdale Community College while the North Bergen school is one of the Hudson County schools of technology.
Hunter College High School, New York, N.Y.: One of the city’s legendary public high schools, with a program for 7th to 12th graders administered by Hunter College. It was an all-girls school until it went coed in 1972.
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora: “Wayne’s World,” the Mike Myers Saturday Night Live sketch and film, is not the only cool thing associated with Aurora. IMSA is also a state-funded boarding school. It takes 10th through 12th graders and has a strong mentoring program.
International Community School, Kirkland, Wash.: Students are selected through a lottery to attend this school, which focuses on international awareness. It is one of the few elite public schools without a selective admissions system. Instead, as happens sometimes, the lottery participants self-select into an academic powerhouse.
Louisiana School for Math, Science & the Arts, Natchitoches, La.: Sophomores, juniors, and seniors who survive the tough admissions process live at the boarding school established by the state legislature in 1982.
Loveless Academic Magnet Program, Montgomery, Ala.: The selective program, known as LAMP, offers 9th through 12th graders advanced studies in a wide range of subjects and just celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies, Richmond, Va.: Unlike the science-math orientation of most of the public elites, the focus of this school is on world cultures and building students’ leadership skills.
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Durham: This school, established in 1980 in an abandoned hospital, started the small but interesting trend of state-created boarding schools drawing bright and ambitious high-schoolers from all over the state.
Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, Oklahoma City: A state-funded boarding school that teaches all courses at the university level.
Pine View School for the Gifted, Osprey, Fla.: This public school opened in 1969. Only those with 130 IQs or above may apply. It has grades 2 through 12 and many successful academic teams.
South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics, Hartsville: Another state boarding school, this one is for 11th and 12th graders across the state.
Stuyvesant High School, New York, N.Y.: It has been teaching the city’s most academically ambitious students for several generations. It offers about 55 AP courses every semester, and has plenty of courses above that level.
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Fairfax County, Va.: The most selective public high school in America, drawing mostly from the affluent households of northern Virginia, it has one of the most talented faculties in the area.
Union County Magnet High School, Scotch Plains, N.J.: This selective-admission school also focuses on science, math, and technology.
University Laboratory High School, Urbana, Ill.: There is competitive admission for this day school on the campus of the University of Illinois. It makes good use of its higher-education environment.
Whitney High School, Cerritos, Calif.: Like Jefferson and High Tech Highs, a suburban version of the New York–area superschools, with very competitive admission. Unlike students at the state boarding schools, those at Whitney go home at night.
Jay Mathews is a NEWSWEEK contributing editor and Washington Post columnist.
Editor's note: The Bronx High School of Science was not originally on the 2010 Public Elites list due to an error in the SAT scores that the school submitted for consideration.
儿子今天收到磁校的录取通知。儿子将去的这所磁校以校友中有多名诺贝尔奖而出名。从去年开始我就和儿子一起准备考试（SSAT，见以前文章)，申请，也算功夫不负有心人吧。他刚给我电话，说收到了录取通知，让我履行以前和他打赌的一千块“赌资”。算起来，买书买资料复习和我花的时间一起加起来，也有一万块的投入吧。儿子不用去私校，五年算下来也省了我十万块吧，算得上是我近年来最合算的一笔投资。
（二0一三年四月十九日）
