Gifted Atlanta

UPDATE 10/18/10: I just received word that this meeting has been CANCELED, but they say they will reschedule it for a future date. So technically, I guess it’s been postponed. I’ll keep you posted.

If you’ve been following DeKalb County Schools in the news, you know that we’ve had our struggles with allegations of impropriety at the highest levels. You may also know that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) has requested more information from our school board about the system’s operation. This is serious business — so serious that two members of the Georgia House of Representatives, Mary Margaret Oliver and Howard Mosby, are taking their own look into what’s happening in DeKalb.

Their group, called the DeKalb Study Work Group on Education Issues, will hold its next meeting on Thursday, Oct. 21, at 10 a.m. in the Capitol, room 341. They haven’t released the full agenda yet, but Dr. Mark Elgart, president of SACS, is scheduled to speak at the meeting.

While this isn’t directly related to gifted education, it is important to our school system as a whole, so I thought it merited a mention.

In a guest opinion piece in Monday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution, national and state leaders in gifted education speak to why it’s so important for schools to challenge and support our brightest students.

The headline of the article is a bit gloomy, but the authors say Georgia actually does comparatively well when it comes to gifted education programs. Still, there is more to be done, and when you find yourself in a position to lobby for greater gifted support, the arguments presented here can help answer the question of why we should pay attention to gifted students.

In gifted education, it’s on the local level that the rubber meets the road. But the federal government does have one program that supports gifted ed. Sadly, that one program is in jeopardy.

The Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program sponsors research on gifted education. In the past, it’s been funded by Congress to the tune of anywhere from $7 million to $11 million per year. In the current budget passed by the U.S. Senate, however, all funding for Javits has been killed.

The U.S. House of Representatives can reverse this action by restoring funding to Javits. If you want to express your support of continuing Javits, you can contact your representative using an online form provided by the Council for Exceptional Children.

Separate from this but also related to federal support for gifted education, a bill has been introduced in the U.S. House that would provide local school districts with grants for programs aimed at closing the achievement gap for economically disadvantaged gifted and talented students. The Equity in Excellence Act (H.R. 5586) has been referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

If you’re interested in staying on top of legislative activity and communicating with lawmakers about the importance of gifted education, the National Association for Gifted Children has established a Legislative Action Network. Members of the network will be alerted to what’s going on in Congress and will be encouraged to keep in contact their local representatives. (Note: You don’t have to be an NAGC member to sign up.)

The National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), the premier advocacy organization for the educational needs of the gifted, will hold its 2010 national convention in downtown Atlanta, November 11-14.

NAGC is offering a $25 discount on convention registration until Sept. 17. Still, the convention isn’t cheap — after the discount, registration is $360 for NAGC members and $459 for non-members. And most of the 450 sessions are geared more toward teachers and administrators than parents.

My recommendation? Encourage your principal to send a few teachers to the convention. Budgets for professional development are tighter than ever, but this is a rare chance for local educators to attend this valuable conference without any travel expenses, so it’s a relative bargain.

And don’t worry — there’s something more affordable and appropriate for us parents. NAGC and its Georgia counterpart, GAGC, will present Parent Day on Saturday, Nov. 13. This full-day event will address topics such as parenting and advocacy. Registration is $65 for members of GAGC or NAGC. Non-members will pay $110, which includes a one-year membership to the national and state organizations.

If you have a child who is 2E (twice exceptional — meaning gifted and diagnosed with a learning disability), you may be able to get financial assistance to enroll in an alternative school.

The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program is open to any student who has an IEP and who was enrolled in a Georgia public school for the 2009-10 school year. The program compensates families who move their children into another public school or an eligible private school.

You can see a full list of requirements and get more information from the Georgia Department of Education.

There is no application process required, and you don’t have to prove that your public school was not meeting your child’s needs. If you meet the eligibility requirements, then you will get assistance. It’s that simple. The only question is how much money you’ll get, and you can find that out using the calculator provided.