From feds on down, AP students are being neglected: “Faced with the daunting challenges posed by the new global economy, the U.S. is squandering one of its greatest assets in the form of its gifted and talented students. Yet the issue remains curiously absent from public debate among presidential candidates.”
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a good article about Advanced Placement. AP classes aren’t exclusively for Gifted students, but AP classes help fill a gap between regular classroom and gifted programs. From the PI article:
The blame begins at the federal level, where the only initiative to specifically address the unique needs of these approximately 3 million students nationwide is the Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act. Since it was passed in 1988, the law has languished in the shadows, producing a congressional appropriation of a paltry $9.7 million for fiscal year 2006. Only half of the states offer additional dollars.
In sharp contrast, Congress allocated $23.7 billion for fiscal year 2006 to fund the No Child Left Behind Act to bring all students up to minimal proficiency. Moreover, when school districts need to pay for after-school tutoring or other remediation, they siphon money from programs for the gifted.
For years, AP classes were considered “untouchable” by school budget cuts. Now, for a variety of reasons, administrators are finding creative ways to cut AP classes from the curriculum. Conveniently, this provides more time to devote to NCLB. I just hope our administrators and legislators wake up and realize the system is broken before it’s too late.
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