For political reasons, in the U.S. this idea is a non-starter -- many people won't accept the idea of paying taxes to support special programs for the gifted, b

For political reasons, in the U.S. this idea is a non-starter -- many people won't accept the idea of paying taxes to support special programs for the gifted, but are willing to do it for those below average. So in the U.S., the expression "special needs children" is a euphemism for handicapped, not gifted, children. There are noteworthy exceptions, usually in large cities with well-educated taxpayers, but for the majority of locales, earmarks for the gifted are just too controversial. An interesting side effect of this anti-intellectual bias is today sitting in the White House.