Re: Peg Hicks-Moore’s Sept. 22 YourHub submission, “GATE in school, a learning experience?”

Ms. Hicks-Moore’s article starts out with an incorrect statement that implies that GATE students are part of our schools’ special education programs.

In 1988, federal legislation, the Gifted and Talented Students Education Act, pertained to students who possessed demonstrated or potential high-performance capabilities. However, unlike services offered through IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, this federal legislation does not require specific services for gifted and talented students. These programs are largely determined by state and local policies.

When IDEA was being formulated, a large percentage of parents who had GATE-identified students did not want the stigma of being associated with special education students and, unfortunately for them, their resistance to being included in this legislation precluded them from many of the inherent benefits it would have provided.

— Pamela Cwiklo, Camarillo