Never said I was trying to sound intelligent, is it you who is though?

Rebuttal: There's a difference between trying to act intelligent, and trying to act more intelligent then others. Way to take the thread off-topic, by the way.

You made an accusation against all the arguement contributors, stating that people were simply argueing to sound 'smart'. Well, I think you couldn't be more full of horse $&#! and need to take you're 'lol, dumbasses' attitude somewhere else.

It may be overused, but just because you haven't witnessed it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It doesn't happen much in high school, but it is quite common in grade and middle school.

One thing, everybody is given their opportunities at school. You go to school, and you learn. If you learn better, and are better at getting work done efficiently, you are a better student. It's not about your small changes in IQ, etc. It's about the will to learn.

Putting certain people in schools that fit their needs isn't a bad thing. It's the same idea as an honors class. If you are smarter or more interested in learning, you go there. You wouldn't put everyone in the school an honors class, as not everyone would keep up.

People that are better at subjects should be pushed more, not kept behind. And people that are worse than average at subjects shouldn't be pushed with impossible workloads. It's not about singling people out, it's about fitting peoples' needs.

If you are behind in school, and in lower classes, you're not stuck in an abyss. I kind of feel like its really just you care or you don't care. If your willing to learn, you'll learn the material in your class, and maybe next year you'll get an honors course. If there are people that are behind, keeping them in tougher courses is stupid. They aren't going to pull ahead, as the class is tough. They are probably going to give up, and fall behind, as they don't have the will to learn.

And everyone, can we stay on topic please?

I find that to be more of a bottleneck then anything. Sure, some students get to 'say' they were in 'Honors', but what relevance does it put towards their education? They learn the same material as everyone else, they just have some extra homework. Then they move onto the next course, which is the same as everyone's else. They speed to the finish line, but then they have to wait for everyone to catch up before they can cross it.

Honors is a waste of budget in my opinion.

They get to learn things that the people who weren't in Honors classes don't get to learn, they get to discuss more complex problems, that is what "Honors" should be.

I go to a private school, and we don't have much in the way of "honors". I guess I'm one of the "gifted", and lack the social skills...:( lol. I enjoy being smart and all, and don't use big words with people to intimidate them. Sometimes I have to use smaller words, but hey, some people just don't know what "hello"means, gotta say "wazup" or whatever it is now. Heh. By the way, the flaming? Ya, stop, just stop, there's really no need. Life can be difficult enough with out the "Your just jealous!" and "they're not really smarter, they just seem smarter" comments. I read all the posts on this thread, and thought it was going to be a civilized discussion, not a "who can look best" contest. Sheesh. Smarter peaple should be exposed to more oprotunities than others, because they can excel more. I'm sure others could accomplish the same things, it would just take a lot longer. I could become a ballet dancer...it would just take me many many years, where as a flexible, energetic, musically oriented person would take a few weeks. And I would say more, but the long post were annoying, so I'll stop here and brace myself for the many flamings sure to come my way. :) *holds fire extinguisher nervously*

I still say school vouchers create more oppurtunities than just opening "gifted" schools.