So, the class thought the gifted are somehow just rich people trying to escape the regular schools.
I love this attitude. It is the number one reason people stay poor. They make excuses for themselves and come up with bizarre motivations for others' actions.
Here is an example.
When I was 7 and 8 I played on the top football team for my age group.
We had a mix of kids from different groups. I was the only nerd and often read other stuff while waiting for my mom to pick me up after practice. Most of the other kids had to read the playbook and memorize it or show they knew it. So we all read. It was pretty funny to see these little kids running around with notebooks full of laminated pages.
I got to be friends with one kid, a gifted athlete I call Prez. Prez just happended to be black.
One day Prez asked me to teach him to read. Prez was a very smart kid and by the end of the season, he was reading pretty good. I don't think I was a great teacher - he was just sharp!
One night his dad came into his room and asked what we were doing. "Austin is teaching me to read Pop!" Prez said.
His dad then went nuts. "What do you @&@&@&@& want to learn to read for? You gonna #&#&#&#&# be better than your folk!!? !@!@%!%@ "
You get the drift.
One of my roommates from college was from the Valley. Rio Grande valley. When he was in Jr High and HS he would get beat up by other kids for being too smart. This is a common event in Mexican areas.
The reason many gifted leave the public schools is so they don't get beaten up!!!
The Rich vs Poor argument is used to distract people from the very real power of choice that they have to make their lives better. At its root it tells people they are powerless to change things and switches the blame from themselves, their parents, their families, and their communities to others who, in reality, do not accept that they are powerless. It allows them and their community leaders to shirk responsibility for their lives. As a corollary it also places a lot of power in the hands of those who can get others to agree that they are powerless.
For kids from broken homes and poor areas, you have to target the parents and the group norms, not the kids. Once one parent or grandparent is motivated, then the rest is easy.
IMHO, kids need to be screened by Doctors and Nurses for GT just like they are screened for other things and parents given information to help them make decisions. For every parent, the need for a good education should be emphasized as much as immunizations.
