Posted on 04/21/2022 7:56:23 AM PDT by grundle
Public schools across the country are eliminating gifted and talented programs, removing advanced courses and overhauling admissions processes to achieve equity across racial categories.
“Gifted programs and advanced courses provide a mechanism for low-income households to achieve a stellar education for their children and serve as a ‘great equalizer’ to those families that opt for private education,” according to Harry Jackson, president of the Thomas Jefferson High School Parent Teacher Student Association.
Activists and politicians have pressured school boards to eliminate merit-based admissions and advanced programs for bright students.
Public schools across the country are eliminating gifted and talented programs, removing advanced courses and overhauling admissions processes to achieve equity across racial categories.
Removing gifted and advanced courses is a no-cost way to cover up the racial achievement gap while ignoring its root causes, according to Harry Jackson, president of the Thomas Jefferson High School Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA).
“Gifted programs and advanced courses provide a mechanism for low-income households to achieve a stellar education for their children and serve as a ‘great equalizer’ to those families that opt for private education,” Jackson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “By eliminating gifted programs and advanced courses in the name of equity, they will create greater inequities,” he said.
Black students make up 15% of the student population and 10% of the gifted student population, while Hispanic students make up 27.6% of the student population and 20.8% of the gifted student population, according to a Fordham Institute study. Those student groups are 49% and 23% less likely to participate in Advanced Placement programs than their peers, respectively, according to the Fordham Institute.
Public interest in racial inequities increased following George Floyd’s death with pressure on public schools to resolve racial disparities coming from parents, activist groups, school board members and officials in the U.S. Department of Education.
Thomas Jefferson High School (TJ), the top-ranked public high school in the U.S., eliminated its competitive entrance exam in October 2020 following a Fairfax County School Board vote, and replaced it with a more subjective admission process which includes geographic quotas.
The Fairfax County School Board had been lobbied by the TJ Alumni Action Group, which was formed in light of the events surrounding Floyd’s death, and the release of TJ admissions statistics revealed fewer than ten black students had been admitted to the school’s class of 2024, Washington Post reported.
TJ’s incoming freshman class in 2021 included more white, Hispanic, and black students than in previous years, while Asian student representation fell by 19 points, the Associated Press reported.
New York City is eliminating its gifted and talented program following a March lawsuit which alleged the program – which was 75% white and Asian – exacerbated racial inequalities. The program will be replaced by a maximum of 2 hours per day of advanced courses for gifted students, to be determined by teacher evaluation of students’ capabilities (rather than a standardized test).
The California Department of Education is considering proposals to “de-track” math, meaning that students of all aptitudes would learn math at the same level in the same classes, and advanced math courses would not be offered. Students in the 11th grade could opt to take Algebra II and Pre-Calculus at the same time in order to take Calculus their senior year, according to the Washington Post.
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) proposed a plan in January to eliminate traditional mathematics courses in favor of an equity-focused framework which places students in homogenous grade-based courses regardless of aptitude until the 11th grade. “[T]his initiative will eliminate ALL math acceleration prior to 11th grade,” Loudoun County School Board member Ian Serotkin said, according to Fox.
“That is not an exaggeration, nor does there appear to be any discretion in how local districts implement this,” he added.
A spokesman for the Virginia Department of Education told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the initiative is a framework for discussion regarding state math standards, which are set to be updated in 2023.
Philadelphia overhauled its magnet school admissions process in 2021 to give preference to “historically underrepresented zip codes.” Boston created a new admissions system for its magnet schools in which students are divided into eight groups based on the “socioeconomic conditions” of their neighborhoods. Top students from each groups are admitted.
“We already know … that more choices, not fewer, is an antidote to the achievement gaps plaguing the public [school] system,” Walter Blanks Jr, press secretary of the American Federation for Children told the DCNF. “When families are truly empowered with high-quality options, and educational opportunity is no longer tied to a child’s ZIP code and family income level, we have seen those gaps dissipate and even disappear.”
“In the name of equity, nobody can be special. Talented children will be bored and suffer, and our country will be worse off in the long run,” Parents Defending Education President Nicole Neily told the DCNF.
While the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has been quiet about state and local changes to gifted programs and advanced courses, it has been vocal about its racial justice goals. A public DOE document released in April made positive mentions of the controversial 1619 Project and quoted Ibram X. Kendi while proposing priorities for American History and Civics Education courses, including “[incorporating] anti-racist practices into teaching and learning.”
Kendi famously advocated for policies which produce equal outcomes across racial groups rather than equal opportunities. In his book, “How to Be an Antiracist,” he argues that all systems which produce unequal outcomes for different racial groups are inherently racist.
The Department of Education did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
Thanks for this response:
“This way the bright kids don’t challenge their ‘ELITE’ brats.”
Looking back, both of our sons were targets of the school admin. as they challenged the Elites’ kids.
One son, just said $crew it and dropped out and got his GED. This B$, just encouraged the other son, and he loved to compete with the elites.
I went to Catholic school and I was also in a gifted program from 1979-1983. Those were held at a local public school, so for part of the day one of those short buses would take us to the public school for the gifted program. They would teach things like architecture, television broadcasting, and how to recognize propaganda. However, they were also open to specific goals that our parents might have. My dad told the teacher that the one thing he wanted me to learn most was how to type. He recognized that computing was the future and that strong typing skills would be important. He also bought me a TI99/4-A with the Extended Basic cartridge to get me started on coding, and later an IBM PC for the both of us for the same reason. Fast forward forty years and I’ve had a long career as a software engineer.
“It’s egalitarian notion - that by taking gifted kids out of regular classes they are not letting the other kids learn from them. That it hurts everyone else basically.”
My older son has two life long friends. One was/is gifted like our son, and the other is a hard working average guy.
The hard working average joe, admits that our son and the other gifted guy enabled him to get by in high school and 2 years of local college with his friends a phone call away. He is a hard hat type of guy and makes a good living as a foreman in construction jobs.
Your posting above re hurting everyone is right on target now and decades ago
Smart people and average people, who are decently educated are a threat to the Democrat party.
Just a minor addition to your excellent thoughts, above.
IQ 120 puts you into the 90th percentile.
IQ 140 puts you into the 99.6 percentile.
Schools with what they call "gifted and talented" programs are aiming at IQ 120+ students.
Good answer and epic presentation.
They want everyone dumb enough to vote democrat.
“Gifted” homeschooled kids are pretty much self-taught, and they still excel in college.
No special taxpayer-funded programs needed.
You're right - it's a mix. Too many people overlook that truism...
bump
I had a boy in Newington who was a hellion. Kind of a Huck Finn type of personality.
He irritated his teachers. He should have been outside skinning his knees and climbing trees, rather than be in classroom.
I advocated for him, with the principal, for weeks upon weeks to work out a individualized program, where he could come to my classroom and work on projects.
[In other words, teacher could send him away to me, when she couldn’t stand him anymore]. The principal got tired of me being a squeaky hinge., and relented. Kid’s parents were on board too.
Huck Finn kid is my classroom....I run out to use the restroom...leaving Huck alone.
Huck finds a wig in a carton we were going to use to make a scarecrow. Huck jumps on the tables [wig on], leaping from one table to another....and guess who walks by....the principal. Poor Huck & I got a stern talking to....but fortunately, life went on.
I don’t care if your child is a genius, Huckster or low functioning. Any child benefits from extra attention.
You are blessed.
Did you ever have a primary teacher who divided the class into reading cohorts and called the groups *Cardinals*, *Bluebirds, *Robins*. Inside of ten minutes, all the kids knew the *Cardinals* were the smartest kids...etc.
Kids who are wizards are as challenging to raise as kids who are intellectually low. IMO.
Did you ever apply for a job and the interviewer asked you what your grades were? Never happened to me, all they want to see is the diploma, and your experience as it relates to the job opening.
[I don’t care if your child is a genius, Huckster or low functioning. Any child benefits from extra attention.]
Congrats.
Love this....thanks for sharing.
We are a small rural community.
What I see of the parenting here, skills that the parents have are passed down to the offspring; e.g. tapping trees and making maple syrup, running/repairing a tractor, cutting and chopping firewood, harvesting deer, bear, wild turkey and the butchering involved, milking cows and other animal husbandry.
Not exacting what you find in *whitelandia*.
Because people who are able to reason at a high level will either compete for position with the extant leftist dictatorians or they will fight intelligently against them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V12tRrJ3Is
It’s basically this, the kid is too smart to live according to the government.
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