tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11566442.post116732735633599725..comments2023-09-16T04:30:01.789-05:00Comments on Help! My Kids Are Smarter than Me!: UK Spending Big Bucks for Gifted Online ClassesThe Princess Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05269338169737025632noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11566442.post-1167512429544980722006-12-30T15:00:00.000-06:002006-12-30T15:00:00.000-06:00I both agree and disagree. The reason we have publ...I both agree and disagree. The reason we have public schools in the first place is to educate the lowest common denominator. And I believe everyone should have an equal opportunity to rise to the level of their abilities. The problem is that economics and efficiencies of scale have forced the schools to force every child to be the same rather than equal, which results in kids in the lower range of abilities being more equal in the administrations' eyes than anyone else. <BR/><BR/>The way you get equality--"close the achievement gap"--is to raise the floor <B>and lower the ceiling</B> until everyone is on the same level. This is not the <I>stated</I> goal of policies like NCLB--they only say the "raise the floor" part--but it's not an <I>unintended</I> consequence, either. School budgets are a zero-sum game. If you spend all the money raising the floor, the ceiling will never even get patched, much less raised.The Princess Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05269338169737025632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11566442.post-1167510087406592952006-12-30T14:21:00.000-06:002006-12-30T14:21:00.000-06:00If the schools didn't have to cater to the lowest ...If the schools didn't have to cater to the lowest common denominator, we wouldn't have the smart kids leaving in droves. I'm all for everyone having equal opportunities, but not everyone is equal.Zany Momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16200837475394889326noreply@blogger.com