For Immediate Release
Tuesday, March 4, 2003
Grassley Continues to Work for Education Iowa Senator Reintroduces Legislation to Support Gifted and Talented Students
WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley has introduced legislation to help states provide educational services to gifted and talented students. Grassley's bill would provide money to local school districts so that they can expand the availability of gifted education services.
"Gifted students represent a vital resource that has unlimited potential. We need to make sure that the exceptional young people across the country have the support and services they need to be successful," Grassley said. "This bill will provide needed support to state and local educational agencies to make sure they are meeting the needs of gifted students."
Grassley has been the leading advocate for talented and gifted children in the US Congress and has worked to ensure that they have access to the education needed to reach their full potential. Most recently, Grassley worked to expand the benefits available for gifted students through the No Child Left Behind Act.
Grassley's floor statement on the bill's introduction follows here:
Statement by Senator Charles E. Grassley Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 2003
Mr. President, today I am reintroducing legislation intended to help states address the educational needs of gifted and talented students. There are approximately three million children in the United States who are considered gifted and talented. It's important to note that gifted and talented children are not simply the kids who do well in school and get good grades. In fact, not all gifted students get good grades and not all students who get straight A's are necessarily gifted learners. What makes a child gifted and talented is how he or she learns. Gifted and talented children actually look at the world differently and often have a different way of interacting socially. As a result, gifted and talented students have different educational needs than other students.
I'm reminded of an example from my home state of Iowa. I have learned of a third grade student from Iowa City named Jose. Jose was having trouble in school. He didn't always complete his assignments and he had trouble paying attention in class. He was also a bit of a loner and didn't interact much with his classmates. As a result, his teacher saw him as a problem student and struggled to get him to behave like the other children. Still, it was clear to Jose's parents that he had a hunger to learn. He loved to go to the library and was very inquisitive. Over the summer, Jose's parents had his IQ tested and he was found to have a high level of intelligence. As a result, when he started school again in the fall, his parents asked that he be identified as gifted and receive services. Jose now leaves his regular classroom a couple of times a week for what Iowa City schools call the "extended learning program." As a result, he is finally receiving the stimulation he was lacking at school. Jose now enjoys school more, has made new friends, and is doing great with his regular schoolwork.
Gifted and talented children have enormous potential. Today's gifted and talented child may grow up to become a leader in the field of science or a world-renowned performer. However, this will not happen automatically. Gifted and talented children need to be challenged and their unique skills must be nurtured. Currently, many gifted and talented children do not receive the educational programs and services they need to live up to their potential. In fact, many gifted and talented children lose interest in school; they learn how to expend minimum effort for top grades, have low motivation, and develop poor work habits. Some may abandon their education altogether and drop out of school. This is a tragedy not only for the students, but also for our society.
We hear a lot about how the United States has a shortage of individuals with the skills in math and science that are necessary for our Nation to continue to be competitive in today's global economy. Our security agencies are scrambling to find linguists who know or can quickly learn foreign languages. In fact, one of the findings included in my bill states, "To meet the future economic and national security needs of the United States, it is important that more students achieve to higher levels, and that highly capable students receive an education that prepares them to perform the most highly innovative and creative work that is necessary to secure our Nation's position in the world."
In times of national crisis or uncertainty, the United States has always turned to its best and brightest to solve whatever problems face us. The launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union brought to national attention for the first time the need to develop the special gifts and talents of young Americans. Once again, we find ourselves in a time of uncertainty; facing new threats and challenges that we are struggling to understand. In order to ensure that our country is prepared to face whatever unforeseen problems will come our way in the future, we must invest now in this vital national resource, gifted students.
My legislation is not intended to make the education of gifted and talented students primarily a federal responsibility. Education is, and should be, chiefly a state and local responsibility. Nevertheless, the Federal Government does have a role to play. The availability and quality of gifted and talented educational services currently varies widely from state to state. This situation has an especially adverse effect on disadvantaged gifted students whose parents cannot afford to pay for private programs or summer camps. Ultimately, gifted and talented students in every public school should have access to specialized educational services that are designed to address their learning needs. Still, my bill would simply provide the seed money to help states begin to expand the availability of gifted education services.
My gifted and talented initiative would distribute grants, based on a state's student population, to each state education agency. States will then provide grants to local school districts on a competitive basis to be used to identify and provide educational services to gifted and talented students from all economic, ethnic, and racial backgrounds - including students with limited English proficiency and students with disabilities. Rather than providing a steady federal funding stream directly to the local level, on which schools might become dependent, the competitive sub grants will allow states to target school districts that need to jump-start their gifted and talented program. At the same time, the local competitive grant process will encourage state education agencies to more closely examine the needs of gifted children in their respective states.
At least 90 percent of the funds provided to a state must be sub granted to school districts and the funds must supplement, not supplant, funds currently being spent. Additionally, states must make their own commitment to gifted and talented students by matching 10 percent of the federal funds, either in cash or in kind. All of this is intended to help gifted and talented programs and services take root in each state and in local school districts so that they can grow and develop to fully address the unique educational needs of this special group of students.
I have intentionally included a broad range of authorized uses for the grant funds in my bill in order to allow states and local school districts the flexibility to address their specific needs. School districts can use these funds to provide professional development for personnel involved in the education of gifted and talented students, including gifted education teachers, general education teachers, and other school personnel like administrators and school counselors. The funds can also be used to provide direct educational services and materials. Or, school districts could use the funds to support items like innovative strategies for teaching gifted students, making materials available through regional centers, or providing high-level course work through distance learning technology.
The federal involvement in gifted and talented education is not new. The Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Act has provided valuable information on strategies to meet the needs of gifted students since 1988 through the funding of demonstration grants and the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented. In the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Congress expanded the Javits Act to authorize competitive grants to states to expand the capacity of states to meet the needs of gifted students. These new grants represent some potential to improve the ability of select states to address the needs of gifted and talented children and I am pleased with the progress we have been able to make thus far. My legislation would build on the existing Javits Act to create a comprehensive approach to expanding the ability of states and school districts nationwide to meet the needs of gifted and talented students.
Congress has rightly placed a renewed emphasis on making sure all children are successful learners. In our effort to leave no child behind, we must not forget gifted and talented students. I would remind my colleagues of the example I cited earlier. Jose is a success story because his parents saw his potential and pointed it out to school officials, and because he attended a school where quality gifted education services are available. There are many more students like Jose across the country who have either not been identified as gifted or who attend a school where gifted education services are not provided. I would urge my colleagues to join me in seeing that these exceptional young people across our great Nation have the support and services they need to be successful. I ask for your support for of the Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 2003.
http://grassley.senate.gov/
>
