I want to know the answer, too. Many organizations use Wordpress because it is free, can do so much, and is a known entity. They can find someone to do big fixes if something breaks. People are expecting great things from their websites and the ability to make changes on their own. It is the ability to make changes on their own that introduces some complexity. My gut tells me that third-party webmasters are dying out (I would love data on that). Yes, I will pay you $X to change the text on the calendar page. Some time ago people started to ask, "How can I do that myself?"

I went through the gifted program. I am of Hispanic heritage and African descent. I was blessed that my mother (who was an educator) got involved in the process and got me in a magnet school. In our county, going to a magnet school was considered being a part of the gifted program. We were lower middle class.

Even if we construct a bias-free system, there never be equal numbers of all backgrounds in the program. The question is how much change (and what kind) could we make to have it a little fairer? I disagree with forced (faked) equality, as well. I was awarded a National Merit Commended Scholarship. I was angry when I found out that it was basically the black SAT awards. I would have preferred not to get an award than to get an award like that.

I've seen and been affected by discrimination from several racial/ethnic groups. I have been teased as being 'too studious' or 'too white' by my black peers. I believe that behavior is a group response to racism to bind the group together against a common threat. It's real, but I don't think it's right. Some escape that mentality, but not nearly enough. Individual and institutionalized racism are real, but it are not the causes of all problems. I agree we should fix the underlying problems, but we also have to address the adaptations communities and individuals have made in response to classism and racism. One of my favorite quotes on this topic "If you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a person feel that he/she is inferior, you do not have to compel him/her to accept an inferior status, he/she will seek for it. If you make a person think he/she is a justly outcast, you do not have to order that person to the back door, that person will go without being told, and if there is no back door, the very nature of that person will demand one. - Carter G. Woodson"

There are scores of parents who won't have their "gifted" kid test as gifted. Will they get the stimulation at home to make up for it? Could they have interactions with their teachers that basically "home-brew" some of what gifted kids see in the program? Sure.

I believe this focus on giftedness is in the wrong place. We should be improving our entire educational system. As educator, my mother was often stymied by administrators and politics. If our education system is so bad we have to sequester people with "high potential" so that they can have what they need, then we need a better system. I now would like to see information on those gifted kids and their success. That is why we care, right? They are one gifted class away from curing cancer. There are many types of areas and ways to be gifted and successful. I've seen high IQ individuals thwarted in the areas of social and financial competence. We need help/recognition in many areas for all students.

Pet peeve: I don't believe in reverse racism. It implies only X groups should be discriminated against.