Advocacy and Legislative Update

For the first time in nearly a decade, gifted education is funded in the budget! As you know, districts and charters are required by law to meet the needs of their gifted students. During the great recession, the funding for this mandate was eliminated.

The budget now includes a one-time appropriation of $1 million for gifted programs, teacher training, and identification. While this is certainly not full-funding (fully funding the mandate would cost around $4 million), it is an important and necessary first step. AAGT will be spending the coming year advocating for the best use of these funds and demonstrating to the legislature the value in funding gifted education. This also means that we will be back next year asking for more funding, sharing our stories, and educating the legislature on why gifted students deserve to have their needs met.

We owe you, our membership, a big thank you! Without you writing your legislators, calling their offices, and appearing in committee to talk about these bills, this would not have happened. This legislative session, I heard powerful testimony from our membership. I heard from parents who had been to a half-dozen schools trying to get their needs met. I heard a heartbreaking story of a gifted child who was so isolated and misunderstood at school that he was suffering emotional problems. I heard from teachers who, already stretched thin, used their prep and lunch periods to do gifted enrichment for their students. I heard from administrators who recognized the need for these programs, but simply didn’t have the funds to make it happen. So thank you! YOU did this and YOU made this happen!

One last action alert: If you have a moment please thank our bill sponsors, Sen. Brophy McGee, Rep. Heather Carter, and co-sponsor Sen. Bowie, for their leadership on this issue.

THANK YOU for all that you have done for gifted students this legislative session.