No Child Left Behind. How many times have we heard about this program? I can appreciate the bigger idea behind it - let's not let any our kids fall through the cracks, but the implementation has been a nightmare. Just ask a teacher how they feel about it. You'll never guess what group has really begun to suffer - the gifted and talented kids. I'm not being sarcastic this time. States are cutting the budgets of the GT programs all over the U.S. Read this part of an article from the Duke University website:
Of the 29 states that mandate the identification of gifted students,
only 11 provide funds to school systems to specifically support the
gifted. Additionally, 14 states spend less than $500,000 per year on
gifted education, with eight states expending $0.
Eight states spend zero dollars on gifted and talented programs? How depressing is that? Who are our current leaders expecting to be in their position in 40 years? Please tell me at least some of the people on the cabinet were above average in school.
Sit around and think about that. If you are American (like me) you can rush right off and google search your own state's programs (like I will) and then start researching private schools (like I hope I don't have to) and then panic about how to pay for private schooling (like I probably will). If you aren't an American, now would be a good time to gloat.
