rickroyal

I just learned that the elementary school I attended has eliminated its gifted and talented program. My first thought was that they eliminated it because they lacked sufficient funds, but that proved not to be the case. No, this was yet another one of those initiatives that's supposed to help the self esteem of those students who were niether gifted nor talented. Which is odd, as I don't recall any students longing to be part of the program when I was in it. To the contrary, I seem to recall that being labelled a brain in third grade wasn't exactly the highest of social proof.

The Chemist tells me that the high school he teaches at will more than likely fail its "percentage of students required to pass the HSPT" quota, as the "No Child Left Behind" requirements are apparently unrealistic. In his words, "some kids should be left behind."

And of course I agree -- I was never in any danger of being left behind (nor was the Chemist or virtually anyone I know). Of course, because the pace had to allow for slower students, I was rarely required to do any work in school. From grade school to post-grad work, I did the least amount of work possible and always did better than classmates who worked endlessly. It's disturbing to realize that had I been born a decade later I would've had to work even less for perhaps even better grades.