She says the gifted magnet teachers are better than the ones in the "regular" part of the school. I can't comment as to whether this is true or not, and if it is, that obviously isn't good. However, her follow-up comment was "Those (gifted) kids will do fine in any classroom--they should give the good teachers to the kids who really need them."
On the spot, I was sort of dumbstruck. I expect to hear this comment again from her and others. Thoughts on a response? I suppose one possible reply is "ALL kids need a really good teacher"...
Do the best sports coaches and music teachers work with the least talented children? Of course not, because their efforts would be largely wasted on those kids. Such "elitism" makes sense in education as well. Education is a multiplier, benefiting the high-IQ more than the low-IQ. Many citizens and an even larger fraction of policymakers wrongly think of education as an equalizer rather than a multiplier.
