Peoria Journal Star Inc. Jan 12, 2004

Don't punish gifted students to aid those struggling

Count among the first victims of Uncle Sam's No Child Left Behind law those children who are academically gifted but, in Illinois at least, may no longer be able to maximize their talents because the funding no longer exists to pay for enriched programs. Isn't it ironic that the result of federal legislation to help students who are behind is to punish those kids who are exactly where the federal government wants them to be, as in ahead?

State officials cut $19 million in funding for gifted programs this school year and stopped requiring schools to identify and provide for children with special skills because that money was needed to help school districts meet No Child Left Behind requirements. As a result, Peoria School District 150 is tapping its general education fund for the more than $150,000 it has lost so it can keep providing textbooks and paying teachers at Washington Gifted School. Others, such as Illinois Valley Central High School in Chillicothe and Illini Bluffs High School in Glasford, have virtually eliminated their gifted offerings.

We are fans of gifted education. While there are pros and cons to providing it in alternative settings, most educators would agree that talented kids need to be challenged, by their peers as well as their teachers. Educating them to the best of their abilities often requires special attention. Of all of District 150's magnet programs, Washington School may do a better job of selling the city, keeping and recruiting families here, than any other. The fact that Washington had the second highest test scores in the state last year provided one of the few public relations bright spots in a school district that is desperately in need of them. 

While we have never been particularly huge proponents of the kind of state categorical programs from which gifted education dollars in Illinois have come, when the money isn't thus targeted, the temptation to spend it elsewhere is just too great. That's especially true in a state where some 80 percent of school districts are hemorrhaging red ink. And so enriched programs disappear. Without a special and caring teacher who's willing to do something extra, the unique needs of that unusually bright child - who can face enough of a stigma as it is - can go unmet.

From where we sit, that makes no sense for our school districts, our communities or society at large. We just witnessed this past week what some of America's best and brightest can do when they landed a machine on Mars. If our politicians can help make that happen, they ought to be able to pull the bottom up without pushing the top down in America's classrooms, too.