It's typical, says Lafayette Parish Schools Superintendent Dr. Pat Cooper, for gifted and talented students to get the short end of the stick. Case in point: Senate Committee Resolution 23.
It's typical, says Lafayette Parish Schools Superintendent Dr. Pat Cooper, for gifted and talented students to get the short end of the stick. Case in point: Senate Committee Resolution 23.
Sponsored by state Sen. Conrad Appel, R-Jefferson, SCR 23 calls for cuts to the state's Gifted and Talented program by reducing the funds allocated through the Minimum Foundation Program. The legislation is awaiting a decision by the Senate Committee on Education.
"None of us have any extra money, so if these cuts come down, we won't have any way to fill the gap," says Cooper. "From my perspective, the gifted and talented students are a lot of times the kids that get left out in school districts, and this will just further exacerbate the problem."
Typically, LPSS receives about $2 million a year in state funding for gifted and talented. Appel's cuts, however, which would come in two phases, would drop that funding by 10 percent, or $100,000, the first year and by 50 percent, or $1 million, each year thereafter.
Click here to sign an online petition calling for a stop to SCR 23.