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Audit: Gifted Students May Be Short-Changed

An audit released Thursday showed that spending on and the quality of programs for gifted students statewide are largely unmonitored and that some academically gifted students may not receive the intended educational benefits.

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An audit released Thursday showed that spending on and the quality of programs for gifted students statewide are largely unmonitored, and some academically gifted students may not receive the intended educational benefits.

According to State Auditor Leslie Merritt, "Our audit reveals that a portion of these funds were diverted away from gifted students and that the state did little monitoring to ensure that intended ... benefits were actually delivered."

The audit began in May 2007 after parents raised concerns that funds intended for the Academically or Intellectually Gifted program were being used for other purposes while AIG students were being left underserved.

Merrit's investigations confirmed those concerns.

"As a father of two kids who were in the NC Public School System, I believe that taxpayers’ money should be used to educate students on every skill-level, and for some AIG students this just isn’t happening as it was intended,” Merritt concluded.

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