its about time that someone spoke up for the kids that are "lrft behind"
my friends son has ocer a 130 iq, he has a 3.9 gpa yet when he took a chemistry class , mr lannon allowed the chemistry class be changed to a fcat science class so that science scores would rise needless to say mr lannon flopped again!
heres something else left out of this report concerning requirements fo being gifted..
my friends son is a white kid with avg parents. when he was tested for gifted he was not allowed a "minority staus" which means if he was a minority, reduced lunch, or other bogus criteria 17 points would be reduced from the manatory score of 130 so he could get in with a 113 score. this method ran rampant throughout the st lucie school system another one of lannons looney toons
btw my friends kid has a 137 iq!

3:12:17 a.m. on May 24, 2007
FRANK FOSTER | 05.24.07 - 3:17 am | # |Report as offensive

With two children in the gifted program, I'm thrilled to hear that the program will be reviewed. However, I can't see that review making any difference to how things play out.

Its yet another reason why our family is leaving the area.

7:54:29 a.m. on May 24, 2007
TAMMY LANE | 05.24.07 - 7:59 am | # |Report as offensive

We don't need "gifted counselors" we need more high level classes taught by exceptionally intelligent and qualified teachers (advanced degrees and IQs over 130, afterall, it won't help to have the teacher dumber than the kids). But these types are rarely found in education and when they are, they rarely stay because the pay is bad and the job is worse since there is no support, too many classes to teach each day and never enough supplies. That's where the money for gifted kids should go. But this country really doesn't care, in fact, even dislikes exceptionally intelligent people, so these kids are being robbed and soon we're going to really see the economic impact of that choice. Let us keep focusing on the Level I reader though, because we might be able to get them to Level II and maybe graduate high school, whoopee! Or better yet lets spend $64,000 of taxpayer money to send autistic kids to private schools so they can learn to sit at a desk without pitching a fit - now there's a good use of our hard-earned money.

10:36:06 a.m. on May 24, 2007
KAY TORPEY | 05.24.07 - 10:41 am | # |Report as offensive

Very true Kay.

Because they've been unable to teach, we use our vote to force improvement. Such as the minimum class size.

Of course there's no possible way for the education system to find that many additional teachers, so we're actually worse off than before.

Plus too many have sat on their hands and said nothing, allowing the politicians to overwhelm us with population growth, which has also stopped any chance of improvement.

The rest of the nation is in the same decline. Millions of jobs lost and Americans in the sciences and engineering are now a minority.

Heck, Mexico produces more engineers than we do. Pretty sad.

11:28:48 a.m. on May 24, 2007
KERRY COCHELL | 05.24.07 - 11:33 am | # |Report as offensive

This article is both powerful and well-written. It is indeed a travesty that our nation turns its back on its best and brightest while
"leaving no child behind". One cannot
forget that the gifted lack federal legislation/protection when contemplating the sorry state of affairs for our high potential kids. I
personally have problems with our state accountability program, ehich,imho, allows for schools to profit from imposing underachievemnt upon our children. An example could be constryed by the avoidance of acceleration, as described in A Nation Deceived:How Schools Hold Back America's Best Students, available on your computer by googling the title.
This work is probably the biggestrelease in gifted ed literature in fifty years and was one of the supporting documents in drafting recent legislation regarding acceleration in the state of Florida.
It is my opinion that parents must unite and demand that our children's unique needs be recognized and insist on their equal opportunity to learn.
Posted by the noisiest parent advocate for gifted kids in Palm Beach County, Diane Hanfmann

10:23:35 a.m. on June 2, 2007
DIANE HANFMANN | 06.02.07 - 10:28 am | # |Report as offensive