One of the most cherished principles of American education is equality of opportunity. All students should have the right to exercise their talents to their fullest potential.
We have honored that principle through our vigorous financial support for children with disabilities and for children from low-income families who need special help to reach their potential.Should we ignore this principle when it comes to children who learn faster than others, remember more, solve problems more efficiently? All students should have the right to develop and exercise all of their talents fully.
We have accepted that principle in higher education. We support entire schools for gifted students like the UCLA Medical School or the University of Virginia Law School or graduate schools everywhere. We do that because we recognize that we might need a good lawyer or surgeon someday and that we want the very best.
But in many public schools around the country, we are allowing our eight-cylinder students to perform on four cylinders. They "learn" in class what they have already mastered, sometimes years earlier. We teach them that learning is "easy" and that you don't have to work hard on problems.
We are told that special programs enhancing the talents of bright students are unfair because there are ethnic disproportions in the membership of such programs. Even though the federal Javits Act and major professional organizations are working to include more diverse and economically disadvantaged students in gifted programs.
Should we shut down these special programs of excellence until our society is truly equal? That is a recipe for educational mediocrity and decay.
For many years programs for gifted students have upheld the banner of high standards and encouraged outstanding performance in our schools. What we have learned from our programs for gifted students has been put to use with good effect in the general education programs.
We support the educational philosophy of excellence for all, but that does not mean identical education for all. One size does not fit all.
The cost of providing a differentiated program for these bright students is much less than the cost of not providing it. What is the cost of the medical discovery never made or the symphony never written?
Our true opponents are not those who disagree; rather, they are ignorance, disease, war, poverty and discrimination, and it will take all of our intellectual resources to defeat these foes. We don't need to hold back those students who might accomplish what this generation has been unable to do.