A Jefferson City teenager has proposed a bill to expand gifted education in Missouri, which he hopes state lawmakers will pick up and embrace as their own.
Rakesh Natarajan, 13, won an award for his work at the YMCA's Youth in Government event at the Missouri State Capitol in December.
On Tuesday, the Capitol Rotunda was overflowing with hundreds of youth from around Missouri who had traveled to Jefferson City to visit with their local lawmakers at Gifted Education Day. Natarajan spoke briefly to the group at the rally's end, explaining his ideas.
He noted his bill had three basic parts:
• The first would require all public school districts to offer a gifted educational program, as long as .05 percent of the district's total population is categorized as gifted. Funding could be derived from the state's lottery proceeds, he suggested.
• The second part amends the definition of what it means to offer a curriculum for gifted students. So, for example, Advanced Placement courses could no longer be considered as "gifted" programming.
• Finally, schools would be fined $1,000 per student for failing to offer such programming.
Natarajan, who won the "best statesman" award at the 2013 Youth in Government event, said he deeply enjoys politics.
A newcomer to the district - he started attending in the eighth grade and is now a freshman - said he's taken gifted classes during most of his school career and is now enrolled in some of the district's advanced courses.
"Math is my favorite. I really like it, followed by science, especially the biology and chemistry courses," he said.
Although he's not aware yet of any lawmakers interested in his ideas, he's hopeful someone might be interested in advancing the legislation.
Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, helped Natarajan with some of the financial aspects of his ideas.
"Hopefully a senator hears my ideas and proposes a similar bill," he said with a wide smile. "Next year in Youth in Government, I'm going to try the same concept again."
Speaking in the Rotunda, Rep. Chrissy Sommer, R-St. Charles, told the students she hopes her fellow lawmakers will consider putting more money in the budget for gifted education.
"One of the things we have to keep in mind is these students are the creators, the dreamers. They are the ones who will be finding our cures one day," she said. "These kids are not being challenged. And if they're not being challenged, they are being cheated."
Natarajan said he hopes others will see the value in gifted education.
"It's a topic that has a lot of merits. I feel it will go somewhere, definitely," he said.