Our district has the GT program under the overall "Special Ed" department. It's just an organizational thing but I think that's where it should be.
Our district has relatively few minorities as students so the GT program reflects the same diversity as the community. And, although we have lots of kids in the GT program, there is a rigid testing regimen in place. There are other reasons for the large number in the GT program: college+ educated parents, higher income parents, higher tax rate, people move here just for the GT program. I know people who have moved away because the district is very AP focused and all the Middle School classes are what they call "Pre-AP". Every high school student is required to take at least one AP class.
And, if "gifted" is so bad, why does no one complain about the terms "gifted athlete" or "gifted musician" or "gifted artist". Our kids are "gifted students", much in the same way.
