Best and Brightest Fight for Funds : Programs for Exceptional Students Are Forced to Cut Corners

Programs for gifted students in South Bay school districts are being hampered, educators say, by inadequate funding and a shortage of qualified teachers.

Nine of the South Bay’s 13 districts participate in the Gifted and Talented Education program (GATE), California’s showcase effort for identifying gifted students and developing their talents. But the state allocates an average of less than $100 a year for each GATE student--a fraction of what the educators say the schools should spend to meet the needs of gifted youngsters.

As a result, most districts participating in the voluntary program say they must subsidize courses from already tight general funds and look for ways to cut their GATE costs.

“Since the state does not adequately fund these programs, we have to find less expensive ways to do them,” said Gail Wickstrom, curriculum director for the Torrance Unified School District.

The economy move in Torrance has provoked an outcry from GATE parents, who say the special needs of their children should have as high a priority as those of any other group.

Officials in other districts said GATE parents seem generally satisfied with courses for the gifted in their schools, but probably would become incensed if budget restrictions required substantial reductions in existing programs.

In any case, the officials said, the demands of GATE parents must be balanced against the needs of other special-interest groups, not to mention those of what is by far the largest segment--children of average intelligence.

Statewide programs for gifted students began in California in 1962 in the wake of the Soviet Union’s success in hurling a basketball-size object called Sputnik into orbit.

But the educational mission was hampered from the start by limited funding, and today fewer than half of the state’s 1,041 school district’s participate in the GATE program, said Linda Forsyth, a state Department of Education consultant.

Declining enrollment has added to the financial woes of most districts in the South Bay.

“The $22,000 we get from the state doesn’t nearly pay our costs,” said Shirley Rogers, an administrator in the 3,800-student Redondo Beach district. “But our board is committed to GATE instruction, and so we have been putting in about $50,000 a year from the general fund.”

She said two GATE teachers divide their time among the lower grades, while another teaches accelerated classes at the middle-school level.

Nancy Mahr, a spokeswoman for the Palos Verdes Peninsula district, agreed that a “determined effort is needed to preserve a voluntary program like GATE when we have so many other mandated programs, like special education for the handicapped, that continually encroach on the general fund.”

She said the Peninsula district manages to contain its direct GATE costs within the state’s allocation of about $113,000, but various overhead costs are absorbed in the general fund.

GATE programs in Peninsula schools are limited to the intellectually gifted--about 12% of the district population--leaving out other categories established by the state, Mahr said.

Gifted and Talented

Under the GATE law revised in 1979, each participating district determines how many of its students qualify as gifted or talented in various areas, such as academics, music, visual and performing arts and leadership. Money appropriated by the state--$20 million last year--is allocated on the basis of the average daily attendance for the schools’ entire student population.

The funding formula presents a dilemma for districts that would like to offer GATE instruction to a broad range of students with various degrees and kinds of talent. But fulfilling that wish means the districts have less money to spend on each GATE student.

Each district sets up its own GATE standards, generally relying on IQ scores, grade point averages overall or in a particular subject, and teacher evaluations. Candidates may be nominated by teachers, administrators, parents or even the students themselves.

In the Torrance district, which has for years poured general fund money into its GATE programs, an effort is under way to bring costs into line with state allocations--despite determined resistance from parents of gifted students.

Popular--but expensive--”pullout” programs, in which high achievers leave their regular classes several times a week to receive accelerated instruction, have been eliminated and the district is looking for other ways to cut costs, such as reducing the number of GATE students.

Under current standards, the Torrance district concludes that about 8% of its 19,300 students “possess qualities of giftedness.” The district gets $108,000 in GATE money from the state and contributes $60,000 from its general fund.

“We receive less than $50 per student and you can’t buy much special attention with that,” Torrance curriculum director Wickstrom said.

Despite the cutbacks, she said, GATE students are doing well. Recent testing showed that GATE youngsters are getting mostly A’s and Bs in classroom studies and scoring above the 80th percentile on state tests of basic skills, she said.

Parent Lobbyists

GATE parents, who tend to be high achievers themselves, are effective lobbyists when it comes to exerting pressure on school boards, officials say.

“They have a lot of political clout,” said one Torrance administrator. “In terms of numbers, they are just another minority seeking special consideration for their kids. But their social status and communication skills give them a lot more weight.”

Perhaps the most aggressive GATE group in the South Bay is a Torrance parent advisory committee headed by Mary Papavasiliou. Last month, she showered local news media with the committee’s analysis of shortcomings in the district’s GATE programs.

She has also led delegations of GATE parents to argue the group’s position before the school board.

Papavasiliou said a recent district survey showed that more than half of GATE parents--and about the same percentage of teachers--are unhappy with what the district is offering its gifted students since it began eliminating the pullout program three years ago.

“Sometimes I wonder if we really have a GATE program,” she said in an interview. “If we do, it doesn’t seem to be a whole lot different from the instruction in regular classes.”

Establish Policy

She said her committee wants the district to establish an official policy under which gifted and talented students would receive instruction “commensurate with their abilities and potentials.”

After hearing Papavasiliou’s views, the Torrance board agreed to expedite preparation of a manual that would spell out the district’s GATE policies and regulations.

The board also agreed to receive the committee’s future recommendations, instead of routing them first through officials, who may, Papavasiliou said, discard proposals that do not conform with the administration’s position.

Papavasiliou, whose two grade-school children are in GATE classes, rejects the contention that GATE is an “elitist program for students with higher abilities who can do well enough without special attention.”

She said GATE students are normal youngsters who happen to be at the top end of normal intelligence curves. Programs suited to their needs, she said, encourage teachers generally to “challenge children of all ability levels to increase their knowledge and thinking skills.”

Sid Morrison, principal of the Magruder Middle School in Torrance, said parents of “mainstream students” occasionally express resentment toward GATE programs.

“There doesn’t seem to be any strong or organized opposition,” said Morrison, who headed the district’s classes for advanced students at the Madrona Middle School this summer. “But there may be a feeling sometimes that the schools are catering to both ends of the ability spectrum and leaving the middle to mediocrity.”

Declining Enrollments

Ideally, he said, a school system should meet the educational needs of all children. But then there is the money problem, which he said has been particularly severe for Torrance and other South Bay districts with declining enrollments--and thus less state aid based on average daily attendance.

In Manhattan Beach, a recurring budget crunch threatens to cut off GATE programs in the elementary schools. “We won’t know until later this summer whether there is enough money to support GATE,” said spokeswoman Jackie Kane.

She said the 2,250-student district has been spending about $60,000 a year, in addition to $18,000 from the state, on GATE programs for about 200 students.

Officials at two South Bay districts without GATE programs cited inadequate funding as the main reason for not applying to take part in the program.

“Just the paper work and red tape involved would cost us more than any extra money we would get from the state,” said Marilyn Corey, superintendent of the tiny Hermosa Beach elementary district.

She said the district uses resource teachers to work with students at both ends of the ability spectrum--the gifted and those who need special attention to keep up.

Spends Own Money

L’Cena Rice, assistant superintendent of the South Bay Union High School District, said the two-campus system comes out ahead by spending its own money on its own honors programs for high achievers.

“We feel that GATE works better in the larger districts,” she said.

The Hawthorne elementary district has applied for admission to GATE, Assistant Supt. Kenneth Blake said, but unless more funding becomes available, new applicants will have to wait up to five years. In the meantime, Blake said, the district relies on its teachers to recognize the gifted and provide extra support.

A spokesman for the Lennox elementary district, the fourth South Bay school system with no GATE program, said difficulties in identifying intellectually gifted youngsters in a largely immigrant population have stalled plans to take part in the program.

“The usual methods of measuring intelligence don’t work when the student speaks little or no English,” he said. “But we use teacher evaluations and other means to select the kids who need GATE-like instruction.”

Forsyth, the state’s GATE coordinator and a longtime advocate of special programs for gifted students, said California’s growing immigrant population has spurred interest in designing GATE programs for children from other cultures. But, she said, inadequate funding limits what can be done.

Forsyth recalled that legislators intended to be more generous when they laid out the original GATE plan in a 1962 law.

“It was called the Mentally Gifted Minor program then and everybody agreed that there should be at least $250 behind each child,” she said. “But when it came to appropriating the money, the rate never exceeded $100.”

She said that California spends a billion dollars a year on special education for 365,000 handicapped children, compared with $20 million for 194,000 gifted students.

Teacher Shortage

Forsyth said she hears many complaints around the state about a shortage of qualified teachers. “You really do need gifted teachers,” she said. “That’s the secret of success in any GATE program. And you need a strong coordinator who can pull things together and be an effective advocate in the schools and the community.

“But the money for good salaries and benefits just isn’t there, so you have to hope that some dedicated souls will carry on the mission because they love to work with these kids.”

Why does GATE have such a low priority?

“The gifted do not give an impression of neediness,” she said. “But they do have special needs--for guidance, for inspiration, for special challenges that will develop their talents for the future benefit of society.

“We are generous in helping the unfortunate, but somehow it is less socially acceptable to help those who run faster and stand taller than the rest of us. It may be that we feel threatened.

“And yet, look at how we enjoy excellence when we go to the theater or watch a football game. Remember how we shared in the pride and spirit of the Olympics. The gifted, in whatever field, are a blessing to all of us.”

GIFTED AND TALENTED EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN THE SOUTH BAY

Student GATE students state District population and percentage allocation Centinela Valley 5,385 212 / 3.9% $30,909 Inglewood Unified 14,604 448 / 3.1% 83,824 El Segundo Unified 1,873 135 / 7.2% 10,571 Palos Verdes Peninsula 10,620 1,275 / 12.0% 113,174 Torrance Unified 19,288 2,352 / 12.2% 108,387 Lawndale Elementary 3,928 120 / 3.1% 22,546 Manhattan Beach Elementary 2,345 269 / 11.5% 18,377 Redondo Beach Elementary 3,875 237 / 6.1% 22,242 Wiseburn 1,126 95 / 8.4% 6,463

per school District student contribution Centinela Valley $145.80 $20,000 Inglewood Unified 187.11 None El Segundo Unified 79.64 None Palos Verdes Peninsula 88.76 None Torrance Unified 46.08 60,000 Lawndale Elementary 187.88 None Manhattan Beach Elementary 68.32 58,000 Redondo Beach Elementary 93.85 46,700 Wiseburn 68.03 35,000

The state allocation is based on the total number of students attending a district. Palos Verdes Peninsula and Manhattan Beach allocations reflect funding formula being phased out under 1979 change in state law. Hawthorne Elementary, Hermosa Beach Elementary, Lennox, and South Bay Union school districts do not participate in the program. Source: state coordinator for GATE