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Eva, I personally believe that some of this may be going on in the public schools under our very eyes. During an education class I had to take, from very liberal teachers, they mentioned that the curriculum of "gifted" students who are taken from the classroom and bussed out each week are often very secret. When the regular classroom teacher inquired what her "gifted" students were studying, so that she could integrate that material with her lesson plans, she was told that it was secret. Even the teachers are puzzled by this. She says that sometimes the kids will tell her what they learn, but many times they will not (we're talking about 6th graders here who normally would love to talk to their teachers). I had to conclude that they had been instructed not to tell anyone what they were doing. My daughter's once-best friend was in the gifted program and from talking with her, I could tell that she was taught to believe that these students were not only smarter, but altogether better, than other "ordinary" students. She even classified them into "good" and "bad" camps. And she's from a Christian family!

I know no more than what I have just written, but it seems to me that someone in the schools are identifying who they consider the best and brightest and are indoctrinating them quietly behind closed doors. ALL the parents I know whose children are in these classes are delighted. It is a badge of honor for them, as well it should if we could be sure that no nefarious goal was at work. I happen to think otherwise.

We moved out of a school district because they had a special program, called "Aiming High", which separated all the "gifted" students from the rest of the school in middle school. My son did not make the cut, even though he had been recommended for the program by his teachers.

When I went into the school to discuss the program with the principal, I contended that the program was inequitable because it offered special enrichment to the "gifted" kids that was not offered to regular students. I said that it denied the regular kids the stimulation of having brighter students in the classroom and basicly condemned the regular classes to "Aiming for mediocrasy. The principal told me that perhaps the regular
students didn't belong on a college prep track because we don't need so many college educated students, anyway.

It's called goal based education. In other words the powers that be are going to pre-determine what level of education your kid deserves based on their own stupid tests and what career path they choose for your kid. In our school district that meant that none but the gifted were aimed for college.