Testimony of Aminda Gentile before New York City Council Education Committee

Mar 3, 2005 2:06 PM

Highlights of Testimony on Programs for the Gifted and Talented

• All gifted and talented students in all neighborhoods should have the opportunity to attend programs that meet their needs.
• The UFT supports the city council bill that would require districts to set aside at least 10% of their classroom space for programs for the gifted and talented.
• The department has left teachers and parents out of the decision-making process about all aspects of programs for gifted and talented students.  The department must not continue making unilateral decisions about these programs based on secret meetings, no-bid contracts and educational ideology rather than student need and parent input.  There must be open, public meetings to discuss what form these programs will take.

Full Testimony

Good morning.I am Aminda Gentile, UFT Vice President and Director of the UFT Teacher Centers. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today about a topic in which I as an educator take special interest, programs for the gifted and talented.

Our school system has a history of offering its students and parents a laudable number of programs and choices that help specific groups of students in all grades and at all levels of performance to reach their full potential.This city's programs for gifted and talented students are among the best.

Parents and teachers constantly tell us that these gifted-and-talented programs are one thing that our city's schools know how to do and do right.They speak of the many ways these demanding programs challenge gifted students.Few of the students in these programs will ever answer that persistent parental inquiry, "How was school today?" with the usual response, "boring" or "just O.K."Students in these programs, whether they are in honors, advanced placement, college preparatory or accelerated placement classes, thrive, receiving the benefits of high quality, enriched instruction from teachers who challenge themselves every day to meet the needs of their gifted and talented students.

Unfortunately, parents and teachers tell us there are neighborhoods in this city that historically have not provided their gifted and talented children access to such programs. Even in those areas that have a long and rich history of offering gifted-and-talented programs there are often not enough of these programs for deserving students. That is why the United Federation of Teachers backs the proposed City Council legislation put forth by Councilman Fidler of Brooklyn, that would require all of New York City's 32 school districts (including the high schools in those districts) to designate at least 10 percent of their classroom spaces for gifted-and-talented programs.The UFT strongly believes that every student who is able to benefit from gifted-and-talented programs should have a chance to do so.Our goal is to see every neighborhood have programs for the gifted and talented.We must not deprive our children of opportunities simply because of geography.

That is why the UFT was very concerned about the recent threats by the department of education to cut the gifted-and-talented programs. Our president, Randi Weingarten, along with teachers, parents and students across this city, spoke out forcefully against this misguided proposal.Now once again, as Chancellor Klein did with other problems such as school security and special education, problems he ignored or insisted were not problems at all until the outcry from parents, community and the UFT convinced him otherwise, Chancellor Klein is playing catch-up.Nevertheless, true to the department's lamentable policy of not involving parents, teachers, or students in its decision-making process, Chancellor Klein, has assembled a secret task force that will operate without transparency or accountability to look at the issue of programs for the gifted and talented.

It is hard, however, to know whether his proposed change in course is driven by educational or political need. Therefore, we would like to take the opportunity offered us by this hearing to ask a few questions that we hope the task force will look at.
How will the selection process for kids define giftedness?

What will the curricula and the resources be for these programs?

How will the instruction differ from what now goes on in the classrooms?

These questions are of particular concern to us given the curricular mandates the department imposes on its teachers.

We have heard from many of our members that the department's insistence on its "workshop model" of instruction, a mandate that requires teachers to shoehorn every lesson, for every student, regardless of topic or level of students, into a strict, timed format with no more than 10 minutes of direct instruction, is particularly ill-suited for advanced placement (or AP courses) in secondary schools.Teachers in these AP courses must challenge students to absorb a great deal of material in a short period but they are given no professional latitude to alter their form of instruction in order to do so.This is a complaint teachers in our elementary schools echo; their inability to modify or adapt instruction, based on their professional judgment without risking a letter in their file for unsatisfactory or even insubordinate behavior means that it is often difficult to develop the strengths of their exceptional students, prod deeper understandings or provide individualized learning.

We are also concerned about the message sent out by the recent department of education announcement that it has awarded Joseph Renzulli a no-bid $100,000 contract to implement his model for gifted and talented education citywide. Mr. Renzulli, who advised the department's secret task force on gifted and talented education has long advocated for a "school wide enrichment model," rather than self-contained classrooms for gifted and talented students. The latter, however, is the model for many current and successful gifted and talented programs in this city. The department's mixed record of support for existing gifted and talented programs, combined with their endorsement, via a no-bid contract of a singular educational approach, sends out a mixed message to parents and communities who, once again, on an issue vital to the education of their children, have not been consulted. Although the UFT has always supported the idea of offering a variety of instructional approaches and models, it has always insisted that teachers should have professional input and be able to use their professional judgment about what works best for students.Similarly, parents and community should have a say in the creation of policies that will directly affect their children.Teachers and parents must have a voice in the creation of gifted-and-talented programs and we fear that despite all the politically inspired rhetoric, once again the department is planning to stifle their voice by force feeding teachers and parents its education ideology without regard for the real wishes of parents, teachers or what is best for students.

We would also ask the department to have open meetings throughout the city in which they will fully, honestly describe their planned efforts around the creation of programs for the gifted and talented to parents and communities, including information about the type and availability of programs, entrance requirements, and monitoring of admissions.These meetings must especially target those parents whose native language is not English or parents who live in areas currently lacking gifted and talented programs.
Holding meetings or "forums" in which a policy decision is presented as a fait accompli rather than an opportunity for input, is insulting and demeaning to all members of the educational community.

The UFT will continue its fight to ensure that this city's gifted-and-talented programs not only continue but expand to all areas of the city, that they are not mandated "one size fits all" watered down versions of what currently exists,and that they best meet the needs of students, parents and teachers.

Thank you.