Posted on 01/21/2023 6:46:17 PM PST by SeekAndFind
A battle is brewing in the Baltimore County School District in Maryland this month and it should serve as yet another reason to keep an eye on what your local school boards are up to. They are currently working on the district’s budget for fiscal year 2024 and parents have noticed some significant cuts to the gifted and talented students program. The proposed budget would not end the program entirely, but it would eliminate three of the four teaching positions currently assigned to the program. Parents have pointed out that students who qualify for the program enhance their chances of being accepted to prominent universities and one teacher is simply not enough to handle all of the qualifying students. Others are asking why this particular program is in the crosshairs for having its budget slashed. (Baltimore Sun)
At a public hearing for Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Darryl L. Williams’ proposed budget, two of the seven speakers who came forth for comment voiced worry about the possible cuts in staffing for gifted and talented students.
Williams’ proposed fiscal year 2024 budget details cutting three full-time resource teachers from the Office of Advanced Academics, which serves gifted and talented students. Such cuts would mean only one resource teacher, one coordinator and one administrative assistant.
The school system’s budget for FY2023 allotted funds for four resource teachers, one coordinator and one administrative assistant, Baltimore County Schools spokesperson Gboyinde Onijala said.
So what’s really going on here? The Public Schools Superintendent who proposed the budget is saying that the change would produce “savings” for the school system. That may be true, but his report also cites a 2020 study saying that Black and Hispanic students are “underrepresented” in the program.
It’s not as if the Baltimore County Public Schools have seen their budget decrease significantly. Unlike many other urban school districts, Baltimore County only saw a net decrease of 49 students from 2021 to 2022. So their tax revenue should be nearly flat, not requiring such a significant cut to the successful program.
This truly looks like yet another example of the war on merit. What passes for “equity” in many of our cities today is a thinly veiled desire for a system that strives for equality of outcome rather than equality of opportunity. If some students, particularly those coming from politically favored demographic groups, aren’t doing as well as others, you might expect the schools to work harder to bring everyone up to peak performance. But instead, they seem to be leaning toward dragging the top performers down to an “equal” level of mediocrity.
Fortunately, some of the parents caught wind of this before the budget was finalized and are pushing back. Perhaps they will be able to force the district to at least keep the gifted and talented students program at its current levels, even if they can’t afford to expand it. But if not, some of these parents may need to do what we’ve seen happening in other school districts around the country. Concerned parents and their like-minded neighbors have been running for positions on their local school boards and pushing out “progressive” members who prioritize woke policies over quality education.
When they finish straightening out the budget, perhaps those parents should take a look at the current curriculum and the books being given to the children. You never know what might have snuck into the system these days.
What does say about Baltimore when they have only four teachers for the smart kids? Why are there so few smart kids? Exactly where did Baltimore find four literate teachers?
If I had a gifted and talented child I wouldn’t let them anywhere near a government school, anyway.
we seek equity in opportunity, but not in outcome!!
Most of Baltimore kids probably have IQs around 75. It is a dumb city.
Very few will write the truth about IQ differences by race.
-PJ
What’s news in the story is that “Gifted and talented student program” and Baltimore happen at same place.
Stories like this could lead to another wave of escapees arriving in Florida. Maybe not; there may not be any smart ones left to flee.
I wonder how much the English as a Second Language classes were expanded?
crabs in a bucket...one looks like it might get out, the others pull him back down.
Keep dumbing them down so they can be ruled over.
Evil .
That was a ridiculous program. They picked people who didn’t belong in it.
MD ping.
.
After Sputnik and the start of the Space Race the US and Soviet Union funded and rewarded academic achievement especially in science and mathematics.
Later, self-esteem programs suggested participation trophies and wanted grading to be de-emphasized or eliminated so the bottom achievers wouldn’t feel unhappy. Meant to reduce envy of the winners and hostility to the achievers.
Among black students doing well and being intelligent led to being isolated and ridiculed for “acting white.”
A professor who wrote books about childrens’ literature told me there were several books with this plot: A little Asian girl comes to school, new to the United States and feeling insecure. The kids decide to try to welcome her and make her feel wanted and a part of the group. Then she gains confidence and zooms past all of them in scholastic achievement due to her high IQ and the students turn against her and try to shun her and cut her down.
“... “Gifted and talented student program” and Baltimore happen at same place.”
I would be just as surprised if a Finnish university cut its Quechua language program, or the University of Kyrgyzstan dropped its Marine Biology major, or Niger National University eliminated its Exoplanet Biology Studies Research Center, or.....
DeSantis would NEVER allow this crap in Florida.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.