Even closer than you think. My dad taught high school math at the neighboring Capuchino high school. I used to attend the Mills-Cap homecoming football games when I was a child.
It's funny, but "Parkmont" high school (Carlmont) where the movie took place has really improved since I went there. Just before I went, there were some famous race riots that even showed up on the MSM news, with TV coverage of National Guard moving in to establish peace. Race riots continued to take place while I was there, on a lesser scale. But it doesn't matter how many deck chairs you rearrange, the Titanic is still going to sink. It saddens me that national merit scholars are wasting their time in high schools, they could be earning college credits very early.
Here is another way we got hosed by Gray Davis not long ago:
Committee passes bill to let gifted students skip high school
Tuesday October 1, 2002
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gray Davis has vetoed two bills that would have made it easier for the state’s highly gifted students to skip high school and go straight to college.
The first bill, which Davis vetoed on Sunday, was authored by Assemblywoman Lynn Leach, R-Walnut Creek. It would have nixed the age requirements for the high school exit exam, allowing kids with an IQ above 150 to take the test regardless of their age.
Currently, students have to be 16 years or older to take the exam.
More than 408,000 California students were identified as gifted last year. Of those students, up to 15 percent are highly gifted.
Students who perform far above their peers often complain of being teased and taunted in high school, according to supporters of the bill.
Davis also vetoed a bill by Assemblyman Jay La Suer, R-La Mesa, on Monday, which would have provided financial assistance to pay for tuition and books.