Further Reading

Friday, 12 April 2024

Parents in Seattle furious over program for gifted children being terminated simply because “it had too many White students”

Parents in Seattle are furious over the termination of a program for the gifted and talented children simply because "it had too many White students."

The Seattle Public Schools (SPS) has a program called Highly Capable Cohort (HCC), which designates classrooms and sometimes entire schools as reserved for kids who can skip ahead and learn above their grade.

Katie McAllister, who's son has ADHD, said that the HCC program "was a real lifesaver" for her son who spoke in full sentences before he was two and learned to read by age four. "I don't know what would have happened if he was in a neighborhood school," she added. "Because he can be really frustrating [to the teachers around him] if he's not challenged."

SPS began phasing out its HCC schools and classrooms for advanced students in the 2021 to 2022 school year to address "historical inequity," because these schools had too many White and Asian students and not enough Black and Hispanic students....<<<Read More>>>...