parents are grouping by ability into neighborhoods to ensure that their progeny are schooled among peers.
Do you have a neighborhood public school which contains strictly gifted, to use as an exemplar? To the degree that neighborhood public schools tend to contain a mix of abilities, some may say your theory that "parents are grouping by ability into neighborhoods" is unfounded, may not be accurate, and is not part of Ability Grouping Research.
Ability grouping within schools is criticized because high-SES children are over-represented in the top track and low-SES children in the bottom one.
The research explains the differences and distinctions between ability grouping and tracking; The terms are not interchangeable.
My point is that if you try to put all the children together to achieve equity, and if the high-ability learn little in the untracked classes, the high-ability children with affluent parents will leave.
While I agree that inclusive classrooms which lead to underachievement of gifted pupils may cause families who have other options to leave, as shared in this
earlier post upthread, exercising options to leave does not necessarily equate to wealth. Families of every SES may strive to have their child/ren's educational needs met.
