Edward, I'm sorry for your painful experiences. I hope it is somewhat healing to have the support, understanding, and validation of the members of this Davidson Gifted Issues Discussion Forum.
The Davidsons began the Institute for Talent Development specifically due to recognizing that the gifted population was underserved.
The brightest students not only fall behind, but often reach the bottom in society... They know the work is neither mentally stimulating nor is it of any practical use.
Much of what you've observed is also reported by research, including
this article, recently posted to another thread.
Parents and experts in the field continue to advocate for change. Meanwhile I would tend to agree with you that the public schools may not be the best placement for gifted students, when other learning environment options are available. There are several old threads which discuss experiences with public schools, including:
- How do you feel about the public school system? (Oct 2013)
- Public v. Private (Dec 2013)
- Ped told my dd public school not working! (Jan 2014)
- Who is better IDed in public school? (March 2014)
- What questions should I ask a new public school? (March 2014)
- Success Stories of HG+ in Public Schools? (March 2014)
Parents may often default to public schools out of financial necessity and/or to obtain special ed services such as remediation and accommodation when their child has been evaluated as being "2e" (twice exceptional: gifted and also having a learning disability).
Some may say the most important point in the
OP's article is:
Unsurprisingly we found that culture, values and attitudes matter a great deal.
Ditto for the links. It matters far more then I can type here. 