Talented and Gifted--NOT

The NY Post has an interesting editorial on the Department of Education’s plan for re-making the Talented and Gifted (T&G) programs in the city's schools. The editorial worries that the new plan (the old one was shot down by middle-class parents) will mean that standards will be watered down because of a concern for greater diversity.

Here is another example of an issue that demonstrates how the "not beholden to the special interests" argument is often simply nonsensical. So the mayor is supposedly not beholden. How does he decide what kind of T&G program is "best for New Yorkers?" There is simply no necessary connection between "not beholden" and the optimum policy decision.