Seattle closed its gifted and talented programs because the school board determined they had too many white and Asian students.
The district began phasing out its high-capacity cohort schools and classrooms for advanced learners in the 2021-22 school year because they found there were too many racial inequities. School bosses said black and Hispanic students were underrepresented in the schools.
According to data from Seattle Public Schools, of highly capable students in the 2022-23 school year, 52 percent were white, 16 percent were Asian and 3.4 percent were Black.
During a January 22, 2020, school board meeting, parents of Black students in the Highly Able Cohort asked the board to consider finding ways to bring students of color into the gifted program instead of closing it.
School board vice president Chandra Hampson then slammed those parents, saying, “This is a pretty masterful job of representing a really small community of color within the existing cohort.”
When the school board decided to end the program, then-vice president Chandra Hampson sharply criticized parents of minority students who asked the board to keep the program “tokenized.”
Garfield High School is one of the Seattle public schools that will be forced to close its gifted and talented program.
“My request is that you consider the disservice you would be doing to the minorities who are already in the HCC program,” one parent said at the meeting, the local newspaper reported. The stranger.
“The program does more for black children, especially black children, than it does for their peers.”
Currently, three elementary schools, five middle schools, and three high schools are highly capable cohort schools; all of them will be phased out by the 2027-28 school year.
The gifted and talented program has been replaced by the Highly Capable Neighborhood School Model, which requires teachers to create individualized learning programs for all of their students.
According to Seattle Public Schools, the new model will be “more inclusive, equitable and culturally sensitive.”
The parents said The Seattle Times They think the new model could cause their children to be ignored and slow down their academic progress.
Erika Ruberry, parent of a second-grader at Decatur Elementary School, said, “It seems to me that kids who are maybe on both extremes are going to be underserved.”
Karen Stukovsky, who has three students in the gifted program, said, “Differentiation can only be done to a certain extent.”
‘There are some children who barely know how to read and others who read Harry Potter in first grade or kindergarten. ‘How are you going to not only get those kids up to grade level and also challenge those kids who are already well above their grade level?’
Some teachers said they felt they did not have the time or resources to make learning plans for every student in a classroom of 20 to 30 students.
news station KOMO reported that anonymous teachers said the district does not provide them with additional resources.
“There is no extra time, no classroom help, no curricular help, and no additional compensation to put together these additional lesson plans for each level of learning in a single classroom,” the report said.
The school district said in a March 5 update that they are currently facing a $104 million budget shortfall.
The district began phasing out its high-capacity cohort schools and classrooms in the 2021-22 school year because they found it had too many racial inequities (file photo).
According to data from Seattle Public Schools, of highly capable students in the 2022-23 school year, 52 percent were white, 16 percent were Asian and 3.4 percent were Black (file photo).
“This happened because Washington state faces an educational funding gap and fewer students are enrolled in Seattle Public Schools,” the district said.
However, supporters of the new program believe it will bring together students from different backgrounds and create a more diverse learning environment.
View Ridge Primary School Principal Rina Geoghagan said: ‘They bring their home experience and their culture, and that’s really unique. It creates a really rich learning environment.’
‘Is it going to be perfect? No. But every time there is a change, it is not perfect.”
Darrell Thomas, father of a fourth-grade student in West Seattle, said, “I love it, if it meant we could stay here and keep her with her group of friends and the teachers, you know, we know her well and we love her.” . and working with her all day long, we’d definitely love doing it.”