Rob,

Thank you for clarifying your position.

I am for starting at the point where it is feasible to start, and for placing obligations on the public schools in advance of that point.

My proposal reads:
http://nasa-academy-of-the-physical-sciences.blogspot.com/2009/11/overview.html

THE SIX BASIC PREMISES:
1. Starting no later than 7th grade, public schools should accelerate the learning of those students who display an extraordinary aptitude in math and science.

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Sure, start in 1st grade, but it will not happen in these economic times.

I edited the startling verbiage out from an earlier version of my NAPS proposal, but my intent and the reality remains plainly the same, which is: NAPS is educational triage � it is saving the best first, and it is saving the best first without spending more than the reasonably available resources.

For the most part, NAPS functions on a redirection of state funds that would otherwise be spent educating the NASA Scholars in an ordinary public high school setting. The additional federal money is best thought of as a carrot to encourage the public research universities to: 1) host a NAPS site, and 2) conduct research using NASA Scholars and the NAPS program to improve math and science education in general.

My proposal states regarding this:
http://nasa-academy-of-the-physical-sciences.blogspot.com/2009/11/overview.html

Each state will every year spend 85% of its average per high school student per year expenditure for each of its NASA Scholars to fund its in-state NAPS academies, and the U.S. government will add $4,000 per student per year funding to each of the 150 NAPS academies nationwide for a total federal funding of $61.2 million per year. The states will be obligated to collect their 15% per student per year expenditure savings into a Science Education Fund that will be exhausted every year through the issuing of major grants to upgrade public high school science classrooms with new computer technology, new laboratory equipment, and/or general facility improvements. The grants will range in size from $20,000 to $50,000 each, and will be awarded by a three-person review committee comprised of one science professor from each of the three public research universities where the in-state NAPS academies are sited. If a state expends $8,500 per high school student per year, its SEF will collect and then spend out $390,150 per year, which could result in 19 grants of $20,534 each.

After the awarding of SEF grants every year, the state governors will consider the merits of all unfunded grant requests for their individual state, and will forward all deserving requests to in-state private industry leaders for their consideration and possible patronage. Special corporate tax credits will be given to companies that fund SEF grant requests. If the SEF grant review committee recommends improvements to particular requests along with encouragement to request a grant the following year (for example, if the request was for equipment that is being made obsolete by new technology), those recommendations will remain attached to the unfunded requests that are forwarded to industry leaders.

States with more than three public universities will select the three universities that: 1) have the largest population base within an established to-and-from daily commute using public mass transit, and 2) do federally funded research on topics associated with gifted learning. All site universities should propose and do research that will improve the NAPS academies over time while also maximizing the benefits that can be had by other schools. Grant money from both federal and private sources will support select research over time.

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By the way, like you, I too hated school. However, I absolutely disagree with you when you state: "... I believe most kids in your program will be those of parents who can afford the $24,000 tuition at a private school for gifted children (and who want to ship them off to such a place)." Gifted children can be born out of poverty from parents who are uneducated and uninspired. I have created NAPS for those gifted children especially.

Finally. my NAPS proposal does not include "the emotional pleas and personal insight" because I rooted all of that out from my original versions. I agree: that stuff has "no bearing on the program" I propose. I offer that information in this forum only because it seems to be necessary to break the ice.

Steven A. Sylwester