Piggybacking on what Val writes above-- I think (and I say this as an advocate on two issues, only one of which is GT ed)-- I think that the problem is that WHILE our kids are in the system, there is a limit to how much human capital we are willing/able to burn on aggressive advocacy.
There has to be. It's pragmatic. If you push TOO hard, you will lose the day-to-day goodwill that softens the edges of the letter of obligations/agreements. In other words, you risk alienating a classroom teacher or school principal to the point that they will ONLY do what they are obliged to do on paper.
On the other hand, if you no longer have a child in the system you're trying to change, it means one of two things:
1. You've spent a decade or so battling to get your child's needs met... day... after... grinding... day, or
2. You've given up and removed your child from that system in favor of another schooling arrangement, often with significant financial or temporal consequences-- or both-- and probably with significant cynicism or bitterness attached.
Neither outcome is very conducive to effective, ongoing, or assertive advocacy for change.
It's a rare individual parent who is willing and able to continue to be a forceful advocate under either condition.
