When I went to school to be an elementary special ed teacher (this was about the same time dinosaurs died out, I think), I received one class in dealing with "special needs students" which had maybe one day dedicated to gifted. I know that despite getting a college education in that field, I had a plethora of biases and wrong opinions about gifted education that only changed through the experiences with my own children. I left college thinking gifted classes fostered elitist thinking, tended to skew kids towards abnormal behavior because they didn't brush shoulders enough with "normal" kids ... A lot of the attitudes I still see in teachers today.
Our school's gifted program is really more of an accelerator than a differentiator, and the administrators and teachers see it as a reward for the good kids, not a solution for kids who aren't thriving in regular ed.
I second the recommendation to engage the teacher in the battles your child faces because of not having proper placement. Having someone who may be able to advocate from within the school may make a big difference in that decision.
