I can see how the system of public schooling generally can arrive at a lottery system for gifted education. But it horrifies me. It plainly gives the lie to the idea of providing a free and appropriate public education for every kid. Giftedness indicates a different set of needs. Those needs don't go away when a child loses the lottery.
In its favor, I can see that a lottery system is probably better than no gifted education, which was the case in my own school years. And it is more fair than providing a decent education for the kids in prosperous districts, and providing warehousing for the kids in poor districts, which was and remains the norm in many places.
It continues to trouble me when gifted education is equated to a good education--the kind many private schools offer. That good education ought to be a priority everywhere. And as good as it can be, it's not the same thing as gifted education.
