In the US we have free compulsory public education for all children from grade 1 to grade 12. Children must stay in school through grade 12, or at least until they are 16. Public schooling is truly free: no book fees, no music fees, no athletic fees. Books are handed out at the beginning of the school year and must be returned at the end. Most schools supply paper, pencils, erasers, calculators, computers, art supplies and musical instruments.

　　I have been a primary-school teacher for over 30 years. I teach English in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to pupils who are members of racial minorities. Currently I work with Haitian immigrant children who do not speak English when they enter school. Their families come from a country where violence is all too common. Haitian schools are often closed; indeed, in the past ten years, there has not been a single complete school year. Grinding poverty results in a very low level of literacy. Parents seldom have funds for books, paper or pencils. When the children of such families arrive in the US, they are woefully unprepared to compete with their middle-class agemates.

美国对小学一年级到12年级的孩子实行强制性义务教育，孩子们必须在学校里读完12年，或者至少要到16岁。公立学校的的确确是免费的：不收书本费，不收音乐课费用，不收体育课费用。每一学年开始时书会发到孩子手里，期末则必须交回去。大多数学校还提供纸张、铅笔、橡皮、计算器、计算机、美术课用具和乐器。

　　我在小学工作了30多年，在马萨诸塞州剑桥市教小学生英文，这些学生属于美国的少数民族。目前，我正在教从海地移民过来的孩子，他们在踏进校门时一句英语都不会说。他们的家庭来自一个到处都是暴力的国家，学校常常是关闭着的，说实在的，在过去10年中，海地连一个完整的学年都没有过。贫穷的煎熬使得海地国民中的识字水平极低，父母难得有钱为孩子们买书、纸张和铅笔。当这样家庭的孩子到了美国后，要想与来自中产阶级的同龄人竞争，其基础极为薄弱。