I am quite alarmed by what I understand the proposed 8VAC20-40, “Regulations Governing Educational Services for Gifted Students,” would do.   I am asking the Commonwealth NOT to enact the regulatoy proposal.

In particular, our wonderful neighbors who are excel in the emotional camaraderie of getting elected to serve on School Boards do not always take a pre-test on how particular budgetary or technical educational issues work.   In fact, there ain’t no tests beyond getting elected.

Now, many of these good neighbors do have lots to offer by sitting on the local school board.  But let’s also admit that when issues get technical, deeply time-consuming, multifaceted and rather demanding, few of these wonderful neighbors have the extra time and effort, since they do have other lives.  Nor do they tend to have PhDs in comparative educational practices to help them understand why some gifted children have some specialized needs.  Where school boards do well are when issues are more general in nature and when the experience is most like what they know.  Again, school boards do well when say, comparing more general needs, like whether the schools upgrade the local sports facilities versus improving the school bus depot.