Taiwanese families who moved to Arizona for TSMC's chip factory say their teenagers are adjusting well, but many parents worry that the country's weak public schools could hurt their children's chances of getting into U.S. colleges.
At one predominantly white high school about 10 miles south of TSMC, the number of Asian students has increased by about 90 students since 2021, to 8.5 percent of the student body.
Students whose families came with TSMC say that American classes are much easier than in Taiwan.
Math and science are easy for them, although the language gap can be difficult.
They say they were not harassed, although several mentioned frequent food fights.
Amanda Chen, a senior going to the University of Texas to play varsity tennis, said "kids start food fights so often."
Parents are more concerned about how lax the schools are. Arizona ranks among the lowest in US states for graduation rates and the third lowest for per-pupil spending.
Many families came to the US partly because of American colleges.
Now some are surprised that teachers sometimes skip homework for seniors and that some schools give seniors a Friday afternoon off, which is a big change for parents who are used to paying a lot for extra lessons.
Source: NYT