As a parent of three gifted students, each with their own unique talents, as an experienced former public school teacher, and as a past PTO officer for a Virginia governor's school, I have witnessed many inequities in gifted programming.  After this number of years since gifted education found its place in our nation's public schools, one would think that gifted programs would be well-based and organized.  However, many school systems still struggle with providing appropriate gifted programs.  Time and time again, I hear school systems blaming funding and lack of resources. 

These gifted children deserve the same attention as other special needs children!  It is important to our nation's future for us to challenge the intellectual to achievements not only of great inventiveness but also of fabulous improvements of technology and scientific designs.  Without intellectual encouragement, some of these students will embrace mediocrity instead of awing us with their capabilities.  Mediocrity and apathy seems to be gaining ground in our country these days.  Is this acceptable?  No!

These proposals to amend Virginia's gifted education are not conducive to supporting gifted students.  No child is to be left behind, as the President says.  Please do not leave the gifted behind by takling measures which will reduce the level of gifted programming in Virginia.  Instead, you should be striving to raise the bar on gifted education.

The time is now to move forward with demanding some equity in the individual gifted programs around the state.  Five year programs assure the demand that long-term goals are in place.  Our gifted students' futures depend upon well-based and organized gifted programs with long-term goals.  Also, the gifted coordinators in the individual school divisions deserve the DOE's respect of their time.  Their time would be much better spent on improving the specifics of their gifted educational program, rather than on re-writing one-year goals every year.

Our gifted students need programs which challenge their ability to analyze and synthesize and which encourage them to solve problems and invent new strategies and designs.  What we don't need is a program which teaches gifted children some simple facts not included in the regularly required SOLs.  Unfortunately, there are some areas of the state where the local gifted program is just that -- nothing to challenge the gifted mind, but a gathering of the system's gifted students into one location to give them more "busy work" and call it gifted education!

I urge you to not accept these proposed revisions of regulations governing gifted programs in Virginia.  Your time would be better spent encouraging the individual division's gifted programs to actually and truly challenge the minds of these special needs students. 

Please give these gifted children the confidence, the inspiration and the courage to become the greatest in their chosen fields and to achieve their goals with the effects for global humanity in mind.

Thank you for reading and considering my thoughts and position on this matter.