Unfortunately there is no mandate in California. The fairly new Local Control Funding Formula now gives school districts all the control on gifted education. The previous education code that spelled out minimum standards is gone. LCFF is a double edged sword because it lets districts design their own gifted education programs (or not), depending on the district that control could be good or it could be bad. You might have to get involved with your local Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) planning team to get any changes. Districts are required to get stakeholder input, however they are not required to implement it. But if you have an in with the Superintendent then I say work that angle .
I don't know what your GATE program is like, but GATE programs aren’t necessarily best practices for gifted education. The testing criteria in place may be testing for the criteria of the program and not necessarily for identifying gifted children.
