Dear,

I am writing on behalf of the many gifted and talented students in New York State who are at great risk of not reaching their potential. The “NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT” which is now driving our educational system, does not address the needs of this population. They are, in fact, an entire group who will be left behind unless something is done to insure their education. As you continue to bring businesses to New York State, and the capital region in particular, please ask yourself where the employees for this business will come from. Each year businesses find themselves unable to fill highly technical positions and that number continues to grow. We believe this “drought in the human resource pipeline” is directly linked to the “standards movement” in education. Gifted students meet those standards as early as September and then sit idly by as they wait for their age mates to catch up.

It is imperative that categorical aid for gifted education remain a line item in the state budget, and not be allowed to be lumped into “block grants” for districts. Since gifted education is a non-mandated item, these monies are very often the only incentive a district has for providing this type of programming.

The failure to recognize and educate gifted children will continue to adversely affect society and the economy. Businesses along with their highly able parents, may not want to relocate to New York State if public education is not be suitable. In other states, businesses have collaborated with the education departments and the universities, to create more challenging curriculum. The” product” of these collaborations is highly employable student. They are students who can analyze problems and create solutions. We need to move beyond rote memorization of material.

Please support the categorical aid for gifted education and consider how businesses might become partners with the education system. Doing both would help to insure a brighter future for our gifted children, the state of New York and for our country. Now, more than ever, we need to insure that our greatest natural resources, the children of New York, are not wasted.

I appreciate your past support and look forward to discussing this issue with you.

Sincerely,