Good morning, Larry--

Schools are supposed to have Individualized Education Plans for each student, but currently in Pennsylvania at least, there's a comprehensive grade plan, and the only people with real IEPs are those in special education: those far below level, those with diagnosed medical problems that interfere with mainstream activities, and those in the gifted program. This adds up to about (using thumb to calibrate) 15% of the total school population.

The obstacle is, of course, money. It takes a lot of time and expertise to devise a school system to serve children with diverse learning styles. I have my doubts that allowing one to grow like Topsy will be any more cost effective than the centralized systems we have now.

I continue to maintain that it's easy to get good test scores if a school is private and therefore has the option to expel poor performers and refuse to admit those who they would prefer not to serve. This is where we get into the equality of opportunity issue.

Regards--
Mary Anne