As a parent of a gifted student, I urge you to continue to have a 5 year plan and DOE oversight for gifted education.  Oversight at the county level without accountability to the state will allow for counties who are having difficulty meeting other educational requirements that are state regulated to divert funding and resources into those areas rather than making programming consistent for the gifted learner.  The change from a 5 year to a 1 year plan would make this even easier for localities.  Gifted learners have different educational needs.  Their programming should be under DOE oversight just as aspects of learning for other populations in the Commonwealth.  Too many factors can have an immediate impact at the local level including who is elected and what their perceptions of the needs of students are.  With a one year plan, elected officials could in effect do away with programs geared toward gifted learners and move these students into mainstream programming where they often lose their love of learning because they are not challenged by the curriculum and do not have the ability to achieve their potential.  I urge you to vote "No" on these proposed changes to gifted education regulations.