For a large fraction of gifted students, all American schools have to do is stop forcing them to waste their time on things they already know or pick up 10 time

For a large fraction of gifted students, all American schools have to do is stop forcing them to waste their time on things they already know or pick up 10 times faster than the average student. Let them read a book on the topic being taught in the back of the class. A couple of my best teachers did let me do this, but it was quite clear that it was the exception rather than the rule, and it depended entirely on their idiosyncratic and countercultural sense of concern for the well-being and development of all students, even gasp the talented ones. There is absolutely zero effort involved, and the idea that this takes away from other students is just good old Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD). Don't FUD the conversation without evidence, please.