How to destroy the nation’s finest high schools for educating the intellectually gifted: Keep exactly the same teachers and curriculum, but ease the admissions requirements.
Immediately, classroom discussion degrades to accommodate students who misunderstand what the teachers and the smart kids say. The following year, the curriculum is diluted and grading softened to avoid massive failures. Within a few years, the best teachers have given up what made them the best or left. It always happens.
