It isn't smart to cheat our brightest pupils

Len LaCara

You don't need to be an Einstein to know Ohio is cheating its most promising students.

Last week, The Plain Dealer wrote a story about the sorry state of gifted education in Ohio. Consider these facts:

• 31 states require school districts to provide special services for children identified as gifted. Ohio does not, even though a sixth of its pupils have that classification.
• Three-fourths of the state's gifted students receive no special services, according to the Ohio Department of Education. Many of the rest only get partial services.
• Ohio spends more than $8 billion a year on educating students. But less than 1 percent of that amount - roughly $47 million - goes toward gifted education.

Does this strike you as, well, smart? Posted by Jeff Henriques at January 27, 2008 9:01 PM
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