I am not saying that the students aimlessly wandering the halls are taking the SAT-- they're in the jail or dead-end-job pipeline. They are NOT going to college

I am not saying that the students aimlessly wandering the halls are taking the SAT-- they're in the jail or dead-end-job pipeline. They are NOT going to college. But there are other students in such schools, however, that are trying to make the best of the situation they're in and these students want to go to college. Sadly, these school is so busy with discipline and attendance issues that it's almost impossible for serious students to get prepared for college. And yes, there are many public schools that would appear to a visitor as chaos. Students do just roam the hallways if they don't feel like going to class. There can be so many doing this that it looks like they're changing class-- all the time. Not exaggerating.