Exactly, when I was in elementary school, it was basically an additional class, that took me out of regular class time which then meant in addition to the extra

Exactly, when I was in elementary school, it was basically an additional class, that took me out of regular class time which then meant in addition to the extra class work, I had to also catch up on the regular class information, assignments, etc. that other kids had class time to learn/work on. It was well intentioned, just not super well thought out I think. Also keep in mind that my perceptions are filtered through many years at this point, so take them with a bit of a grain of salt. Middle school and beyond were a bit better, as you just ended up in more advanced classes (i.e. advanced Math).