Gifted-education programs face uncertain future
Gifted-education programs in public schools are facing a cloudy future at best. In St. Louis-area schools, they still are in place, unlike in some of the state's rural districts, which have curtailed or eliminated gifted programs.
And while the good news is that the programs likely will continue in area districts, the bad news is they might not be expanded to include more children who show signs of being gifted.It's a dollars-and-cents issue.
"Unless some funding is available, I think you're going to see some districts eliminate the programs and others cut back on what they offer," said David Welch, director of gifted programs in the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
It's not that state funding has been cut for gifted programs; rather, it's the way the money is being provided to the districts.
Until 2005, the funding for gifted programs could only be used for those programs.
In 2005, the Missouri General Assembly changed the foundation formula, the complicated method by which state tax money is allocated to local districts. Largely overlooked in the formula's revision was a change affecting gifted-program dollars.
The money was sent to districts as part of their overall funding. Administrators now could continue to use all, some or none of those dollars for gifted programs.
The funding is figured on the number of students served in 2005-2006. If a district serves fewer than 80 percent of the students it served in the base year, it would lose state funding.
Conversely, if district officials choose to serve more students and need more money than was allocated in the base year, the district would shoulder the increased cost.
Sue Flesch, executive director of the Gifted Resources Council, said gifted students in general don't receive the level of challenge they need. The situation resulting from the new foundation formula only compounds the problem, she said.
Flesch is concerned that requiring districts to pick up the cost of expanded programs will mean a significant number of potentially gifted students might not find a place in their districts' programs.
"The reality is if they don't get some kind of special services, we'll be doing them some kind of disservice," she said. "There is no incentive to expand a program."
State Rep. Sara Lampe, D-Springfield, is making her third consecutive bid to change the way gifted-education money is doled out to districts. Lampe is a former director of the gifted-education program in the Springfield School District.
"In Missouri, it is not a mandate to serve gifted children," she said.
She said the state didn't begin allocating any money for gifted programs until 1973.
Lampe had little success the past two years arguing to earmark gifted-education money.
"We were there in '06. We were there in '07, and here we are in '08 and I'm doing it again," she said, referring to her legislation.
State Rep. Clint Zweifel, D-Florissant, is a co-sponsor of Lampe's bill. His daughter is in the Hazelwood gifted-education program.
"I just think gifted education has been a great experience for us," he said.
"I think we have an opportunity here to ensure that gifted education is a priority throughout the state," he said. "I think losing the earmark is dangerous."
Flesch is optimistic, too, that the future of gifted-education programs will be brighter than it has been in the past few years.
"I have to remain optimistic," she said. "Gifted children provide so much for the future of our society. We need kids who can wrap their brains around the problems we face."
