As a result, gifted programs tend to isolate affluent children, and the power and resources that follow them can result in fewer resources for the general population.Īcross the country, schools are locked in intense debates about what to do about gifted and talented programs, largely because of racial disparities. Some districts have stopped tracking gifted students. In a system of about 1.1 million children, about 16,000 seats are available in city-run elementary schools. Wealthy New York families often spend thousands of dollars on test prep for their preschoolers because the number of gifted and talented seats is limited. The panel’s rationale: Gifted programs are biased and serve to segregate children along lines of race and class, in large part because admission to most programs is based on a screening exam parents can register their children to take, starting at age 4. Phasing out gifted and talented programs at PS 9 will test a controversial recommendation from a school diversity panel appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio to end such programs at all elementary schools in the city. Segregation: It's getting worse in schools, GAO says Gentrification has displaced people of color by driving up rents and intensified racial stratification in classrooms. The controversies have been particularly acute in Brooklyn, where white and affluent families populate neighborhoods historically inhabited by black and Latino residents. It's raised questions about whether school systems can have both excellence and equity and whether integration efforts should come from parents or official intervention. The move put PS 9 at the forefront of controversy surrounding racial integration in the nation’s largest school system – and one of its most segregated.