Re: No Genius Left Behind

Hanover Fist wrote:
> 
> Gifted kids are better served by increased teacher vigilance than they
> would be by increased funding. There are a number of academics and
> professionals out there who would like nothing better than to mentor
> gifted children while on their spare time, and watchful teachers could
> link such kids up with these professionals. If a database of approved
> individuals were made available, this could be a safe and effective
> alternative to throwing a lot of money at what you see as a problem.
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There are NO "gifted" kids, except as their parents and society have
inadvertantly or intentionally given them gifts!


> Children with limited learning abilities do need funding, however, so
> that they can reach their maximum potential. This is important not
> just to meet some legal standard of equality, but also because these
> particular children will still have to discharge the duties of
> citizenship when they reach the age of majority, and need a baseline
> level of education to do that properly. They also need to meet certain
> standards before they can take the menial jobs for which they're most
> suited.
> 
> We need janitors - literate ones, so they don't accidentally mix some
> lethal combinations out of their industrial cleaning products - as
> much as we need accountants. We need waste-water treatment
> professionals almost as much as we need doctors. Factory work is also
> important, and so are any number of other undervalued professions. I
> seriously doubt someone with an IQ of 140 would be happy at any of
> these jobs for long, but someone with an IQ of 75 might be perfectly
> content to clean up after you for the rest of his life - and he would
> be just as good at it as a genius.
> 
> The dull kids are as necessary as the geniuses, and educating them is
> just as important. If they do their jobs well, and are good citizens
> otherwise, you've already gotten your value back for funding their
> learning.
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Except people don't actually come in denominations as your continuous
spectrum from ability to disability, so convenient for reactionaries
to select their slave classes from. People are ALL able to be
scientists, if trained, unless they were mechanically or chemically
retarded in their development, either before or after birth. AND 
Society HAS THE OBLIGATION to ALL of them to DO SO!
Steve