Saturday, March 17, 2007
Gifted Education Funding
As a teacher of the gifted I am an advocate for this special group of young people. One area that concerns me is the funding that is available for such programs. I am interested to learn about gifted programs in your district and funding for such programs. I find myself working with this wonderful group of students but with very limited funds. I'm curious to learn how this compares to funding for special education students or other students in other programs. I believe that our best and brightest students are being left behind when resources are divided. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)1973, Section 504 states that a Free Appropriate Public Education must be provided for all students with disabilities at no cost to the parents. I am in agreement with this act and believe it benefits our students with disabilities. However it does concern me to see hundreds and thousands of dollars spent per child each year for these students when I only receive single digit dollars for the gifted students. I believe gifted students should also receive a free and appropriate education. Please don't feel that I am against students with disabilities and want to remove any of their benefits-I do not. I simply believe the students that have the most to offer our cities, states, and country - our future leaders - are being shortchanged. What are your thoughts?
Emerson,
ReplyDeleteAs a parent of two gifted children I do understand and appreciate your comments. The real challenge lies with a strong school leader that will use the school schedule to maximize teaching and learning for all students....including the gifted. Gifted funding can be a very lucrative opportunity for districts that know how to schedule students with gifted certified teachers. It is, ultimately, a question of priority.
Emerson,
ReplyDeleteI fiound myself shortly after the beginning of this school year in charge of supervising the gifted program for our county. The supervisor that had been handling it decided to retire early. I have been working with this group of teahcers this year on revising our forms and updating the board policy. There is so very little money earned by our gifted program. We havejust enough to replenish the tests that we use and have them scored. If we need any additional materials and dsupplies we just have to hunt for funds. There is not much attention given to this program in the ways of funding from the state.....it seems quite unfair to me. I do beleive these students will emerge as leaders of tomorrow and deserve more....
Emerson,
ReplyDeleteAs a parent of two gifted children and the wife of a gifted teacher, I know that these students receive so little in funding from the state and our schools. It is really disheartening that other special needs students receive more than $1000.00 per student per year for their education and the gifted students receive less than $5.00 each. I understand that special needs children need more to make their education a worthwhile experience, but gifted children are most likely the people who will contend to be the leaders of our state and country, so why not invest more in their education? I think that counties and states have had to focus so long on making sure they were doing what is right for students with disabilities that they have forgotten the other end of the spectrum. I hope this trend will change soon.
Debra Chester
I am also a gifted teacher. I receive very little money to supplement these students. Several years ago, gifted students were grouped as special education because of the modifications that needed to be made in the regular classroom. Due to the negative publicity this caused, they are no longer classified in this manner. I feel that the gifted students are being lost in the the shuffle of the schools. They are expected to "get it" regardless of the situation, so there is little priority placed on these students.
ReplyDelete