On February 7, The New York Times ran a good article on the negative impact of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act on gifted education. The article, "Federal Law Drains Resources for the Gifted," offers a powerful look at how the act has devastated gifted and talented programs across the county.

From the article:

The federal No Child Left Behind law requires that virtually all children become proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014, and this demand is forcing many school districts to focus attention—and money—on students who are not proficient in reading or math. Many families of exceptionally bright children like to say that it is the gifted who are being left behind.

In the years after the law’s signing in January 2002, Illinois jettisoned its $19 million allocation for gifted programs and Michigan cut spending to $250,000 from $4 million. Here in Connecticut, 22 percent of the state’s districts eliminated or shrank gifted programs in 2002, and others have since scaled back. It doesn’t take a gifted person to figure out that the law is siphoning off the money.

I thought this opportunity sounded so fun and exciting that I couldn't wait to tell you about it.

CBS is currently in production on a new one-hour primetime game show for the CBS television network. According to a letter I received from the show's casting director, "In this one-hour unique and positive game show, one adult stakes his or her pride and reputation against a team of talented and gifted kids. Our purpose is to celebrate young people and education by making role models out of kids who are working hard to fulfill their educational goals.

"From geography to sports, history to movies, the kids will defend their intellectual capital against these grown up challengers, combining their academic talents to challenge the adult and send him or her packing."

The casting director went on to say, "We are looking for academically accelerated and gifted children nationwide to participate in our new kids game show. We are targeting well-rounded children of diverse backgrounds with unique interests."

If you know of a gifted child (grades 3–7) who might be interested in this opportunity, the following information will be helpful (each document is a PDF file and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing):

Casting Director's Overview of the Program

CBS Parental Consent Form

KGS Audition Video Submission Outline

Please note: The deadline mentioned in the "Casting Director's Overview of the Program" has been extended to February 19, 2007.