'Rural districts like us, we've been literally bleeding to death,' said Gary Tyrrell, assistant superintendent

People like this guy are in charge of educating our kids?

le mew: People like this guy are in charge of educating our kids?

Well, they keep diverting funds because of No Superintendent Left Behind.

RodneyToady: Well, they keep diverting funds because of No Superintendent Left Behind.
I'm just saying it seems like there's more than one problem here.

FTFA: 'Are they more important than a special-ed kid?'

Who's going to contribute to your Social Security and find cures for diseases your children will get? I'm gonna go ahead and say yes - TAG students deserve a special, custom-tailored education.

Children who are not challenged intellectually get bored and eventually complacent about learning. They should track the students that got their funding taken away and see how many of them actually go to college now.

This is a problem that's an inevitable results of NCLB, which as a package of laws represents the utter pinnacle of Bush's incompetence, short-sightedness, and tendency to utterly destroy anything he even glances at. The philosophy of that legislation is incompatible with "gifted education," or individualized education of any kind. It simply recognizes one set of arbitrary standards as the goal, and then commands, as one might command a pot of gold to appear at a rainbow's end, for those goals to be met by schools. Never mind that the fastest-growing population in schools around the country are "special education" kids who are in various stages of language acquisition, who require complex and expensive ILPs, who may be dealing with a whole host of familial, social, and cultural issues that schools are ill-equipped to handle. Never mind all that, and never mind how much progress a student might have made over one year--if he can't reach that bar, he's left behind. Or, rather, the school is. So where will their limited resources go? To the "gifted" kids who can almost certainly pass these tests with little intervention, or to the "special" kids who have almost no hope regardless but can sue if their court-ordered needs aren't met? It's a no brainer, much like the legislation itself.

And the implied solution of NCLB to this quandry? The real purpose? Well, take some guesses about the racial/class makeup of the "gifted" kids. Then take some guesses about the racial/class makeup of the "special kids." Then throw in the right's obsession with charter/private schools and voucher programs that pull even more money from public education. An interesting picture begins to emerge.

I was in gifted classes, in a fairly poor school district. In grade school, that basically consisted of playing oregon trail. In high school, it was Wolfenstein 3D. Did a lot of field trips though, one time to a farm where we saw a cow give birth. The kid who helped deliver the calf is currently serving life in prison for first degree murder. Funny how things pan out.

NCLB is a prime example of why the federal government should not be deeply entrenched in education. Federal standards demand uniformity that cannot realistically be achieved when the particular needs of schools vary so widely from state to state, district to district, and even school to school.

bargled: FTFA: 'Are they more important than a special-ed kid?'

Who's going to contribute to your Social Security and find cures for diseases your children will get? I'm gonna go ahead and say yes - TAG students deserve a special, custom-tailored education.

I agree. The goal should be to maximize learning overall, not minimize differences between Genius Joe and Special Ed.

Ooooo... a Main Page green, no less.

I'll make a prediction: somebody who read the Sparknotes for Atlas Shrugged and owns a copy of Bioshock is going to pretend they are a Randian Scholar and post something about how this instance in a failure of policy effecting a rural school 'just goes to show' that Ayn Rand was right about everything.

And then a bunch of people are going to (rightly) pounce on them for that statement.

And then the discussion will veer off course.

CtrlAltDelete:

...And then the discussion will veer off course.

Ha! You owe me a laptop.

This is bush's legacy.

\\and that ME failure thing.

nekom: I was in gifted classes, in a fairly poor school district. In grade school, that basically consisted of playing oregon trail. In high school, it was Wolfenstein 3D. Did a lot of field trips though, one time to a farm where we saw a cow give birth. The kid who helped deliver the calf is currently serving life in prison for first degree murder. Funny how things pan out.

I'm sorry you had such crappy gifted courses... the ones I went to were challenging and plain awesome.

ready....set...go!

Ron Paul Revere: How about a Randroid rant about how NCLB is an utterly amazing example of why the idea of local government control and state' rights is what makes the most sense?

Because seriously, don't tempt me. I'll post the most verbose, conscise rant you'll read in the next 26 minutes.

At least it would be a rant about No Child Left Behind.

Seriously though, whenever the words "gifted student" appears in the headline, somebody goes off on one of these HOLY SH*T AYN RAND!! SPECIAL NEEDS GET EVERYTHING AND GIFTED STUDENTS GET NOTHING ITS JUST LIKE FOUNTAINHEAD OR SOME SH*T type deals where nothing is really said; yet merely regurgitated.

Pocket Ninja: This is a problem that's an inevitable results of NCLB, which as a package of laws represents the utter pinnacle of Bush's incompetence, short-sightedness, and tendency to utterly destroy anything he even glances at. The philosophy of that legislation is incompatible with "gifted education," or individualized education of any kind. It simply recognizes one set of arbitrary standards as the goal, and then commands, as one might command a pot of gold to appear at a rainbow's end, for those goals to be met by schools.

You know you're talking about Ted Kennedy's bill, right?

LadyHawke911: I'm sorry you had such crappy gifted courses... the ones I went to were challenging and plain awesome.

seconded. the gtc (gifted, talented, creative) program at my school was excellent. i probably would have ended up killing someone out of boredom had it not been there

karatekitten13: Children who are not challenged intellectually get bored and eventually complacent about learning.

This happened to my cousin 20 years ago. Bright guy but so bored out of his mind at school he ended up failing classes. He ended up fine, but I sure heard a lot from his mother flipping out on him when I was over there when we were in high school (his dad was a math teacher and he'd tutor both of us as I just plain sucked at higher math like trig).

/Jewish mothers don't care who hears them yell at their kids, especially if its just a cousin
//I was just glad she wasn't yelling at me, which she'd do if warranted

LadyHawke911:
I'm sorry you had such crappy gifted courses... the ones I went to were challenging and plain awesome.

That's kind of my point, it's always varied between different districts, it's nothing new.

FTFA: When she was 6, her father, Michael, overheard her telling a little boy: 'No, no, no, Hunter, you don't understand. What you were seeing was a flashback.'

Damn, 6 years old and already a veteran acidhead?
/Kids, they grow up so fast

This is not new. Federal law says you have to write a blank check for your special ed program and the rest of the students get to share whatever is left of the school budget.

Struggling with shrinking revenues and new federal mandates that focus on improving the test scores of the lowest-achieving pupils

I'm glad standardized tests are still sucking the life out of our education system.

Sad story ^{(^)}

My mom is a school teacher so I'm getting a kick out of these replies.

Seriously now, NCLB is a disaster. My mom has to deal with these "special" kids all the time. Actualy that isn't fair because it isn't the kids fault, it's the politicians and school adminitrators who are to blame.

These kids get put into regular classes when they should be in their own "special" classes. My mom has told me of least one who is never going to be able function at a level higher than a 6 year old, why are they being placed in regular classes where they are disrupting the learning of the normal kids? What is the point?

What's the worst thing that can happen: That immigrants can now take the jobs americans want and don't want?.

nekom: I was in gifted classes, in a fairly poor school district. In grade school, that basically consisted of playing oregon trail. In high school, it was Wolfenstein 3D. Did a lot of field trips though, one time to a farm where we saw a cow give birth. The kid who helped deliver the calf is currently serving life in prison for first degree murder. Funny how things pan out.

Did you go to Towanda? You summed up my experience.

ted kennedy co-authored NCLB. libs can blame themselves for this one.

sad, but as a parent, I wouldn't have a choice but to move in the best interests of my child...

so if Sped kids can sue for what they consider to be "adequate" educational resources, shouldn't I be able to sue for my gifted child? I believe so. Maybe it's time that the parents of gifted children made a bit more noise.

This isn't news. My own parents sued their local school district close to 30 years ago now because they had no programs in place for gifted kids despite the state requirements that they do so. The whole exercise ended up being pretty much a failure; I ended up going to private school and my mom got a job teaching at the same school to pay for it (awkward!) then eventually we moved into a different public school district. It's the same problem that's been happening since the beginning of time, it's just being blamed on different factors (but what it really comes down to, more often than not, is that residents don't want their taxes raised or athletic budgets cut for the benefit of a few kids, especially when those few aren't theirs.)

/despite the fact that I was supposedly "gifted" as a child, my life since college has been depressingly average
//well at least I do have a job, house, girlie, and a couple old cars to play with, so I got that going for me.

Whistle Pig: nekom: I was in gifted classes, in a fairly poor school district. In grade school, that basically consisted of playing oregon trail. In high school, it was Wolfenstein 3D. Did a lot of field trips though, one time to a farm where we saw a cow give birth. The kid who helped deliver the calf is currently serving life in prison for first degree murder. Funny how things pan out.

Did you go to Towanda? You summed up my experience.

Jack Thompson cannot understand your statement. Those violent video games should have made you into the first John Lee Malvo! Why, that Oregon Trail is just a murder simulator when you turn sniper mode on!

Hey, everyone, let's brag about being "gifted"!!!!

damageddude: karatekitten13: Children who are not challenged intellectually get bored and eventually complacent about learning.

This happened to my cousin 20 years ago. Bright guy but so bored out of his mind at school he ended up failing classes. He ended up fine, but I sure heard a lot from his mother flipping out on him when I was over there when we were in high school (his dad was a math teacher and he'd tutor both of us as I just plain sucked at higher math like trig).

/Jewish mothers don't care who hears them yell at their kids, especially if its just a cousin
//I was just glad she wasn't yelling at me, which she'd do if warranted

I figured out how to get C's in high school by doing absolutely jack shiat. You basically just had to ace every test and do the fun stuff. Now in college, I still use that strategy to graduate and still partake in as much drunken bafoonery as possible. Fark companies that require a 3.0, if they don't want to recognize soft skill sets, I don't really care. I'm on a co-op for big pharma now, and doing great at it.

This is nothing new. My older son was in the advanced program. By two years later, when my second son went, they had started with the "Inclusive program". he sat bored all day as the teacher had to go over the same things again and again. He hated school. Any question he had, he'd sit at the computer and look up himself. Shouldn't we be helping the smart kids, instead of dragging them down? The other problem is that many of the teachers do not even know the subject matter they are teaching our children. My son would come home almost every day and tell me a fact that the teacher got wrong.

I don't mind giving more funding to special needs kids, but it's not fair to the "typical" kids, whose learning is impeded by their not being able to keep up, and it's especially not fair to the special needs kids who are being held to standards it is simply impossible for them to reach, no matter how hard they work.

Next education reform bill, we need to fix this, and repair teaching tenure. My Business Law/Marketing teacher, along with the fat PE teacher/biatch who shared the gym at the same time as our class did, simply should not be allowed to go anywhere near a classroom, let alone teach.

/BTW, I'm subby, and I just realized this article is 4 years old. Whoops!

FTFA: Rural districts like us, we've been literally bleeding to death,' said Gary Tyrrell, assistant superintendent

/pretty unobscure, huh!?

Ron Paul Revere got here first, so my work is done.

NCLB is socialism at its best. Everyone has to be the same, so we try to prop up the morons and bring down the most gifted so we have a nice equal mass of mediocrity.

10 years of the gifted program, four years at an honors college, and the only time i started to really be enriched and challenged was here in grad school. Ironically, this is the only part of school thus far that i've been paid for.

TMBGfreak:

I figured out how to get C's in high school by doing absolutely jack shiat. You basically just had to ace every test and do the fun stuff. Now in college, I still use that strategy to graduate and still partake in as much drunken bafoonery as possible. Fark companies that require a 3.0, if they don't want to recognize soft skill sets, I don't really care. I'm on a co-op for big pharma now, and doing great at it.

C's hell, my high school was so damn easy I got A's and B's on that plan. I probably could have got straight A's had I ever done a lick of homework outside of school hours (I'd usually do my homework during class, and kind of half assed pay attention to the lectures. If I had any work left over, it'd get done during study hall. If it didn't get done during study hall, it didn't get done.)

I was woefully unprepared for college. that was a rude awakening, to realize that even for smart people actual study was required. I didn't do as well there, and I think it was 50% due to suddenly being in an environment where I was surprisingly average, or even maybe on the low side of the curve, where up to that point I'd become used to being the smartest person in any room. The other 50% was simply due to never having had to really work intellectually before, ever.

I'm sure if I'd have been challenged harder and consistently starting at an early age, I'd be doing a hell of a lot more with my life.

The kids that are really gifted wouldn't have to rely on an archaic school system to succeed and would instead head to the local library, watch/read Discovery and National Geographic, etc. and indulge in their curiosities.

The school system today is basically one huge noise signifying nothing. Kids that strive for A's soon realize that those grades mean nothing in the long run, and average kids soon realize that tests are nothing but simple regurgitation that basically teach them simple short term memory skills instead of permanent learning.

You guys had gifted programs?!?

/from Michigan
//spent grades 1-4 in the back of the room grading papers

I was in gifted programs all through my public school education in a smallish, semi-rural Kansas town (through 1987). It was the only perk in a system that otherwise seemed transparently designed to prepare children for the schedule-defining bells and tedious, pointless busywork of factory life. And since then, many of the factories have left the area.

le mew: 'Rural districts like us, we've been literally bleeding to death,' said Gary Tyrrell, assistant superintendent

People like this guy are in charge of educating our kids?

i dont know...if you think about it in terms of bleeding money, then parts of the district that are no longer around, such as the gifted programs, did sort of "bleed to death".

/trying to give him the benefit of the doubt

I hated being in the gifted program. There were no hot chicks in it like on "Head of the Class." All it did was ostracize me from my other classmates. I did everything I could to get out of it. I fell asleep during class, smart mouthed the teacher and refused to do homework. Apparently, the program was run by the mafia and the only way out was in a pine box.

Finally, through the use of some well placed plagiarism, I got "removed" from the program.

If these childrens are so bored, give them more homework. Make them write till their fingers bleed. After awhile, they won't want to feel special anymore.

this really is not a NCLB problem. It's a funding problem. And it's not new, or unique to NCLB.

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I taught myself to read when I was 2. Four years later, in kindergarten, we spent most of our time learning the goddamn alphabet. First grade was spent reading about Dick and Jane, and Mr. Fig. By the time I got to high school I was so bored with that the only thing keeping my interest was sports.

Ironically, my mother was the special ed teacher. She was very good at teaching kids with learning disabilities, but she had no idea what to do with me.

This isn't really new. Gifted students have always suffered because people don't think they need the extra help. The general opinion since who-knows-when has been "They're smart. They don't need help." Only in the VERY recent years have people started to point out that gifted children need just as much special attention as special education children do.

As an example. I attended GATE from grades 7-9 and IB from grades 10-12. I learned a lot of facts, and a welcome amount of critical thinking skills (although not as much as I might have liked). But I was still as messed up, confused, naive, and outright DUMB as any other student in any other course in those schools. For at least 30% of the time spent in grades 7-9, our classes were more like "free time to let the smart kids do whatever it is that smart kids do" rather than real education.

I think this is not only because of the perception that highly intelligent children are actually smart (they aren't: high int, low wis), but also due to the failure of any educational board to actually be anywhere near the 21st century in teaching theory or practice. And I think NCLB is a serious regression in teaching theory.

I think a lot of people with gifted kids are opting more for homeschool. I'm kind of torn on that honestly, but if the school district isn't up to par, then I can definitely see the reasoning for it.

CleverGuy81: Ironically, this is the only part of school thus far that i've been paid for.

Your gifted prose is apparently beyond my limited intellect to decipher, both frightening and confusing me.

//just jerkin yer chain