... I think some posters here would not agree that those 5000 kids are all deserving of gifted ed.
The point made was that market stability occurs when supply=demand. That being said, every kid is
deserving of the best possible education. Each child needs the most supportive, academically challenging education for which they have the readiness and ability.
It's quite likely that in keeping with the general flow of the conversation you meant to indicate that not all children for whom qualifying scores were presented may actually benefit from a curriculum of advanced academics? That some may have been hothoused or coached, creating a temporary boost which resulted in qualifying scores?
Yet I'd gently caution that to any parent whose child qualified but did not get a seat... and to any parent whose child did not win an educational lottery in their own city, the concept of "deserving/undeserving" may open deep wounds.
I think it is a sad commentary on our society that we remain relatively silent while 5000 children (in one city alone) suffer the withholding of advanced academics for which they present themselves as prepared.
... the situation as it stands has so much prestige attached to the label-- and such emotional investment because it's a parenting issue--
The numbers are huge, the stories behind those numbers... heart-rending, I'm sure. This is supposed to be the land of opportunity, where every person can work hard and get ahead. Rationing education is simply not philosophically consistent with this.
