As Pittsburgh Public Schools moves forward with their drastic ‘equity driven’ plans for the future, they have yet to reevaluate a core program that every student in the district is affected by: The gifted program. This program, which is supposed to cultivate the skills of uniquely gifted students, is where economically disadvantaged students and students of color, specifically Black and Hispanic students, are set up to fail. The gifted program should not exist the way it currently does. The Gifted and Talented Education program is a program where students that have been identified as “gifted,” which is done through a psychological and educational evaluation, typically while in elementary school, receive a Gifted Individualized Education Plan (GIEP) which is effectively specialized academic enrichment. This enrichment looks different depending on the student themselves and the grade they’re in.

First, let’s identify what makes a “gifted student” a gifted student. As classified by the state of Pennsylvania, a “gifted student” is “a student who is exceptional… because the student meets the definition of ‘mentally gifted’… and needs specially designed instruction.” (22 Pa. Code § 16.1.) So, a gifted student is one who is “mentally gifted,” obviously, but what exactly does that mean? Again, as classified by both the state and district, “The term ‘mentally gifted’ includes a person who has an IQ of 130 or higher, or meets ‘multiple criteria.” This ‘criteria’ includes but is not limited to “intervening factors, achievement, early skill development, and rate of acquisition and retention.” (22 Pa. Code § 16.21.) The incredible ambiguity of this identification is exactly why students of color are rarely suggested, evaluated, and identified for this program.

For a school district that is over 50% Black, Black students are grossly underrepresented in the GIEP category. In the 2022-2023 school year, there were 9,029 Black students, of those students only 211 or 2% have a GIEP, making up 16% of all students with GIEPs. On the other hand, out of 5,610 White students, nearly 1,000 had a GIEP, making up a whopping 67% of all students with GIEPs. Why might that be? It’s not that Black students aren’t as smart as their White counterparts. Most Black students in the district are economically disadvantaged, they hardly have access to resources that lead to the program such as teacher and administration recommendations. This lack of access leads to missing out on educational opportunities such as AP courses and exams as well as CAS classes, both of which can be required for a gifted student to retain their GIEP. On top of that, if these students go to schools consisting of majority low-income students, which also tend to be minority White, there are very few AP/IB courses that are offered. For example, Allderdice, a predominately White school, with 40% low-income students had 28 AP/IB courses in the 2022-2023 school year. But Obama, a predominately Black school, with 82% low-income students, had a measly total of 6 AP/IB courses. Students of color, whether they have a GIEP or not, are getting neglected. Even if they have gifted plans, their schools have insufficient advanced classes to take, and without gifted plans, they are further denied access to higher-level courses.

The Gifted and Talented Education Program is built on deep-seated educational racism, classism, and general inequity. It’s ground zero for racial segregation in education, while done under the guise of identification for intelligence or “mental giftedness”. If the district wishes to pride itself on equity and inclusion, the gifted program needs a major renovation. Beginning and ending in the classroom, where this enrichment must be widely available and readily accessible to every student regardless of “mentally gifted” status.