I think you should talk to the principal and tell him you've had a conversation with this teacher and you're concerned that it's the wrong fit for your child based on x, y, z.
My HG son has dyslexia & dysgraphia and the first time I didn't object to his teacher placement, and he got the teacher with the bad reputation, I tried to have an open mind. But it was a disastrous year. The teacher deserved her reputation and more. He was a 4th grader and this teacher merely presented information. Her opinion was that kids can learn from it or not-- their choice. If a kid got a C, they were obviously just average. She gave them no help. A poor writer? Obviously not very capable. She never gave extra help. My son did have a 504 that said he needed to write on the computer, but she never turned on the computer, which was in a hallway. When I asked why he wasn't keyboarding, the answer was always that he didn't want to do it. Go figure. The HGT teacher was furious with this teacher over the way she treated my son (she knew him), but there was nothing she could do.
When school administrations wonder why some parents don't trust their decisions-- this is why. As you can tell, I'm still mad about it three years later. But I'm also mad at myself that I didn't do something about it.
