&gt; we can do a bunch more with the non-gifted children than we even attempt.<p>We can.  But it requires a lot more <i>teachers</i>.  And nobody is willing to pay for that.<p>The public education system in the US is at a rough optimum relative to the amount of <i>parental</i> resources that people are willing to spend.  If you want to overcome that, then you need to spend a dramatic amount more on teachers and schools (the Gates Foundation data is quite clear on this--25% expenditure increase only begets about 1-3% student achievement increase--you need nearer to 100% increases to get significant levels of student improvement).