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Gifted Education Funding Threatened

Recently I heard a neighbor explaining stem cell research to her mother and she's only ten years old. Stacy's part of the gifted program at her local elementary school and with a sick father, she wanted to learn more.

Federal financing for gifted education has come from the Jacob Javits Gifted and Talented Education Act along with state subsidies. But according to Education Week, the money from the act was zeroed by the House and in the Senate version funding will be rolled into the federal Institute of Education Sciences.

There is no federal mandate for gifted education and services vary among states and even among districts. Although Javits funds were small, they supported research and training for teachers to recognize intellectual giftedness in minority students and English language-learners, traditionally underrepresented in gifted education.

Parents of unusually smart kids often say it's the program keeping them in public schools and advocates believe that without dedicated funding, the program will diminish. With a push to get kids into the sciences, who knows what talent and genius we'd be missing if new funding isn't provided.

Reported By: Dr. Marciene Mattleman, KYW Newsradio

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