I don't agree that the majority of kids are "average". A huge percentage (I would quote it, but I left my abnormal psyc book at a friend's) of kids suffer from learning disorders that create giant road blocks in the learning process. These kids are not given the attention that they need in order to wade through their challanges. I, on the other hand, was quite advanced on paper and so I was sent across town to a GATE school (gifted and talanted education). It was awful, I was cut off from the world and after less than a year my parents pulled me because I was so homesick. The school's ansewer was to advance me several grades and start me in high school at the age of 9. My parents declined. Then, because my parents refused to medicate me, I had a dreadful time in school. I ended up dropping out as a freshman in high school and didn't go back until I started at LCC. My educational experience was not a good one. I saw many kids either bored or totally lost, but they were shuffled through the system reguardless of their aptitude. What about your experience...do you feel as if you were encouraged to achieve your potential?