TLDR: Could we use community funds to hire a teacher for gifted students who are falling behind in the regular classroom?
My son’s school has a large number of high-achieving students. Our school is located in a beach area with wealthier families, while other parts of the district are not as wealthy. I understand the district’s hesitation to hire a gifted teacher at our school, but I think we can raise the funds to make it happen. We have strong community support for this plan. However, when we proposed using fundraising to hire extra teachers for each grade, we were told it isn’t legal to hire additional teachers for just one school. They said that this would cause unfairness across the district.
I understand this argument—it would create a divide between schools, which isn’t ideal. But my son has a very high IQ, and as parents, we invest a lot of time in challenging him. It’s heartbreaking to watch him hate school and lose his love for learning because he’s bored with the material. Before we pull him from school, I wanted to ask if anyone here knows of a way we can push the district to allow us to crowd-source funds for a special education teacher to supplement the school’s existing staff.
The best option might be to send him to a private school. Communities can’t just hire extra teachers for public schools. These teachers are government employees, and the hiring process is heavily regulated.
@EducationExpert4
The private schools in our area aren’t great. They’re mostly full of students avoiding standardized testing and attendance requirements. I understand how the hiring process works, it just seems unfair.
By the way, I used to be a teacher in the local public schools. I left because of the low pay. Our local politics make it nearly impossible to raise taxes, even for schools. They game the system to get A-ratings (Florida), but I feel like we’re failing our students. I really don’t want to abandon public education, but this is becoming too much to ignore.
EducationExpert4 said: @sign
You should already know that it’s illegal for the community to just hire teachers independently, especially after working in public schools.
I thought I made it clear that I understand that, but thank you for repeating it.
@sign
Look into the Davidson Young Scholars program for resources. They might be able to help. You could also consider using the Iowa Acceleration Scales to explore a grade skip for your child.
If you want to make this work within the public school system, you’ll probably need to work directly with the school board and superintendent to set up a gifted program that could be open to all students in the district. It may not even be at your local school, and your child might need to travel to another school in the district.
If you have enough community funding for several full-time teachers, why not use it to set up a microschool or a homeschool co-op? You could also check out Beast Academy for your son.
Have you thought about using the funding to hire gifted teachers who could work across multiple schools? This would help ensure that all students in the district have access to these services. For example, gifted teachers could split their time between two schools.
@irmah
We have about a dozen elementary schools in our district, all spread out over a large area. There are similar numbers of middle and high schools. While the middle and high schools have some advanced programs, the elementary schools are still stuck with 25 students per class, with one teacher covering every subject.
@sign
Are there multiple elementary schools, or just one? And are you open to different models for gifted education, such as pull-out programs, full-day gifted classes, or before/after-school programs?
@irmah
No, there are a dozen elementary schools spread across a large area. I’m open to different models. Right now, we have one gifted teacher at our elementary school. My son attends once a week, and it’s the only day he enjoys. The teacher is great, but managing five different grade levels in one day is challenging. I think it would be possible to have a gifted teacher for each grade level, perhaps with a para-educator for support.
If it’s not legal, then it’s not legal. Even if it were, there’s no way the district would agree to hire more staff, change schedules, and create a new program based on community crowdfunding.
Unfortunately, it’s illegal to use private funds to pay teacher salaries. The problem is, if the money runs out, the district would either have to fire the teacher or make cuts elsewhere. You might be better off using the funds to create an after-school program.
@CatherineRivers
I understand. It’s just hard because my son is worn out from trying to keep himself busy all day. It looks like homeschooling might be the only option left. I hate that Florida is underfunding education, pushing families to make decisions like this. It really bothers me that we’re not doing enough to support our students.