Rob,
You first wrote: "I have a 10 year old son who likely is gifted. Unlike my daughters, I will have him tested as he is heavy into science and math and I need to open as many doors as I can."
Then you wrote: "I prefer to look at the larger vision. It's always better IMHO to get the entire design worked out rather than building piecemeal and trying to retrofit later."
My recommendation to you is that you set your "IMHO" aside in favor of a much more selfish motivation that works hard to achieve something beneficial for your own son. Look around, and then move toward a solution that can be personally self-serving. Why? Because you will fight your fight for maybe four or five more years, and then you will give up defeated. I speak from experience. It always seemed to me in my naive hope that middle school would be different than elementary school, and then that high school would be different than middle school, and then that college would be different than high school. Well, guess what? None of it is different � from start to finish, it is all the same!
Ponder this very deeply, schools administrators � principals and their assistants and their higher-ups � are all people who loved school all the while that they were students. For them growing up, schools provided the answer. What does that mean? Sadly, it means that almost all school administrators were NOT gifted children. And, unfortunately, the same holds true for almost all teachers.
Why would people who have lived their whole lives loving school have any desire whatsoever to change it? The answer to that question is simple: They would have no conceivable desire at all to change school, they would likely battle against changing school, and they would likely win any battle fought regarding school because they together hold all of the power positions in the fight.
Rob, I do not need good luck because my children are done with the K-12 grind. You are the person who needs good luck.
Steven A. Sylwester
