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Here is an interesting quote from the article:

“Honestly, I don’t want to send my white, middle-class kid to a [non-gifted] school where there’s 2 percent white children . . . I don’t think it would be comfortable for him.”

Statement by Kerry Neal-Shaw, a mother bemoaning the fact that her son was denied admission into the (I assume predominantly white) gifted program.

Here’s the key:

“You don’t get this on the East Side,” notes another Department of Education source. “They send their kids to private school.”

For that reason, there is no irreparable harm in this case that merits the (apparent) injunctive relief sought by these sore loser parents.

Perhaps they can claim monetary damages, equal to the cost of enrolling Johnny in private school so he can get what the public school gifted-and-talented program unfairly denied him. But the whining parents would have to sign that darn expensive private school tuition contract first, wouldn’t they?

Full disclosure: I grew tired of public school neglect four years ago and, putting my money where my mouth is, enrolled my triplets in private high school. Best decision I ever made (and the most costly), and the thought of suing the public education system to recover the cost never crossed my mind — until now. Alas, there are better ways of spending my time than filing frivolous lawsuits that will get publicized on this blog. Some parents on the Upper West Side think otherwise, no doubt, but that does not a cause of action make.

This may not be as frivolous as it sounds. Sounds like the district ditched an objective test for a subjective test meant to encourage racial quotas.

I agree with DanielB. It appears that under the new system, a teacher’s favorite students are likely to get picked, even if they are not “Gifted and Talented.”