Public education is free in the United States too if your parents or guardian pay taxes. Whether the parents directly pay for tuition or not is not really the

Public education is free in the United States too if your parents or guardian pay taxes. Whether the parents directly pay for tuition or not is not really the main thrust of my argument. The point is that supportive parents are critical for the academic success of children. If (when) I had the opportunity to ensure my parents would never have to worry about their mortgage or an unexpected medical bill I would take it. I'd send them on a nice vacation too while I was at it. Personally I think it's the least you can do in return for having supportive parents. Of course, there's a possibility that Perelman's parents were not supportive. But in my experience the majority of gifted children have supportive parents.