Seattle Public Schools' decision to replace gifted program ignites debate on inclusivity

WASHINGTON (TND) — Parents are riled up after Seattle Public Schools shut down its gifted and talented program because of complaints that it was not inclusive enough.

Parents Defending Education Investigative Fellow Alex Nester joined The National Desk’s Jan Jeffcoat to discuss the issue.

“So what led to this is Seattle Public School leaders essentially looked at the number of kids in this program based on their race. They broke down a group of kids based on their race, and they said that they didn't like the number of white and Asian students participating in the program,” she said. “Instead of providing kids with the opportunity on the front end to go to tutoring services or with other programs to get kids meeting the benchmarks in the bars that they need to get into the program, they decided to shut it down.”

Seattle Public Schools are currently trying to answer a lot of tough questions after it dismantled its gifted and talented program and replaced it with an equitable and culturally sensitive program.

If students are found to be gifted, they will now stay in their classrooms instead of moving to a special program or school, according to KOMO.

“This is part of a much broader war on merit that we are seeing in schools across the country, whether it's eliminating gifted and talented programs or eliminating standardized tests,” Nester said. “When you take away these bars and these opportunities, that hurts all students.”