STOP the TDSB EETF: NO to De-streaming; NO to Cancelling Specialty Programs; NO to Cancelling Optional Attendance; NO to "reforming" Gifted Programs

Both of my children have greatly benefited from this program and I have seen how these specialized programs can cater towards to the needs of Gifted children. I strongly support keeping the specialized program running.

Both of my children have greatly benefited from this program and I have seen how these specialized programs can cater towards to the needs of Gifted children. I strongly support keeping the specialized program running.

Gifted students are exceptional and deserve the accommodations of a gifted program.

no to cancelling specialty programs, gifted program and optional attendance

These kinds of programmes were life-changing not only for me but for the diverse group of friends I made as a student. I am deeply indebted to visionary educators like Ruth Banks who pioneered the Gifted Programme in which I participated. Eliminating or hamstringing these programs would be an education tragedy.

I was a proud attendee of the gifted program at Churchill Heights P.S. and Woburn C.I. in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These programs allowed for the requisite flexibility to accommodate the best and brightest students, and gave teachers and administrations the autonomy to design the best possible programming and education for each individual student. Changing this structure would be a terrible mistake.

These programs contribute to creating opportunities for people of all backgrounds.

You would do irreparable harm to our brightest students by either eliminating or changing the Program for Gifted Students in the TDSB.

TDSB EETF should be stopped at once.

I joined the gifted program in Scarborough around 1980 in the fourth grade and completed the rest of my schooling in it. It was a pioneering effort at the time, and an altogether excellent one, which saved me from boredom and dislike of school. I pursued an academic career, but it is important to note that many of my classmates were never so interested in academics, but nevertheless needed the program to save them from poor educational and life outcomes due to mismatch between the kind of education they otherwise had available and their real needs. Yes, a quality education emphasizing thinking rather than rote learning and the whole development of the child should be available to all, but gifted children and others with particular needs often require more tailored programs and attention. To recognize this is in the interest of the society at large because a mind is a terrible thing to waste, but it is also in the interest of - yes- 'equity'!

Fix the barriers to access. Don't take away programs that are working. ..make them work for more people.

Fix the barriers to access. Don't take away programs that are working. ..make them work for more people.

I was in the earliest gifted program's first class in 1976. My classmates truly came from all sorts of backgrounds, and most parents were working class, many first generation immigrant. In that time, we just fell into the program, selected by teachers and psychologists. The peer influence really changed my life. I recall sitting in class and reading with my book under the desk all day, bored and tuned out because the teacher rarely called on me so as to give other students. time to answer questions. She had me help other students when my work was done. This did not support my empathy, since it 'othered' me and led to my being bullied and ostracized by my peers. Keep a variety of programs for a variety of needs, including gifted education. It's not elitism to keep children from becoming bored, indifferent or depressed, and to provide sufficient challenge for children whose parents would not choose/afford a private school education.

We should give our children next generation more choices, please keep the gift program.

Kids are different. Don't give them same way to learn. Give them a chance. Try different way to teach them . Let them continues .I believe this a value future for them and Canada.

Keep gifted program

I feel strongly that TDSB gifted programs provide opportunities for economically disadvantaged students which would be impossible for these students otherwise. I attended gifted programs myself (Scarborough Board of Education, 1976 to 1978). Many of my classmates were fairly recent immigrants, and few came from wealthy families. Most would not have been able to afford the cost of private schools. The students in this program have been very successful. One way we benefited was finding a peer group. This group is still in touch with each other more than forty years later. The selection for gifted education should be done by testing or by teachers or psychologists -- not by parents. It is the responsibility of the teachers and psychologists to do this selection in an equitable manner, free from racial biases and preconceptions. Eliminating gifted classes would harm underprivileged students, not help them. Those in my class would not have had access to gifted education outside the gifted classes provided by the public school system.

Keep gifted program

Please keep the gifted program.

don't cancel special programs!!!=(