I'm sure it depends on where you live. I've moved around a lot. In the well funded city schools we got a pretty decent education. When I moved out to the country it went downhill a lot. I tried going to the middle of nowhere community college to save money and the first year was basically middle school level English and Math. People were struggling. There was a lot of "this stuff will never affect me, I'm just going to work on a farm or factory so who cares" type of attitude.
I've always enjoyed learning and I think anyone who does can succeed in any environment. There were certainly other kids who strived for more even in the country and did okay too. But having moved a lot I could tell the difference.
That's because it is unbelievable. In high school in the US, I had to write an essay per week in my history classes and a paper per book in my literature classes.
I went middle ranked suburban high school (and a large public university). Based on my experience, this story didn't happen the way it's being told.
I think it's more likely that no one wanted to raise their hand because they thought it was a trick question.