Splitting the opposition vote in District 1?

I don't know and that would be interesting to find out (not possible??)....many people do refuse as the thought of "labeling", to some, is not a good thing.....

You are correct that SE is broader and different than when we were kids. Although at the school I attended, the SE kids (like those you remember) were in the regular classrooms (one in mine) and there were no special aides. Interestingly, I’m not aware that anyone saw this as an issue. Much more is known about mental health issues like ADD/ADHD, OCD, Aspergers, etc. and learning disabilities than when we were young. Back in the day, many of those kids went undiagnosed and just got labeled as hyper, weird, dumb or ‘bad’ kids. IMHO, this still occurs and in some groups more than others. I have to disagree with your back door theory, though. Here’s what I know based on personal experience. Getting diagnosed is not an easy process. The school either may not see the issue or want to deal with it unless it is detrimental to the classroom. In other words, if it is causing severe behavior issues or the child is below grade level they’ll want to look at, but the AG/honor student still doing average/above average and/or the distracted but not overly disruptive ADD kid will likely go unaddressed unless the parents advocate/do it privately. If you get private testing, the school may then have you go through the same process through the school. Getting a ‘diagnosis’ does not mean an automatic 504 Plan or IEP because there has to be “impairment.” For example, if an ADD student is also AG and staying at/above grade level, the system reps on the IEP ‘team’ will probably not recommend an IEP. They also do not want to deal with the paperwork. However, in one case they did want to reassess in third grade for testing accommodations. (Hmm, so when lack of accommodations only impacts the student that’s OK, but when it may reflect on the health of the school, well then they want to do accommodations – got it, it’s all about healthy schools after all.) BTW, this was at one of those ‘elite’ schools, which also for four years missed an average student who was actually AG but had dyslexia even though the parents kept saying something didn’t seem right (i.e. knew child was capable of more than average).

In summary, I don’t think you have to worry about honors kids, even those with actual diagnosed issues, getting IEPs handed to them left and right at least not across the board (may, like many things, vary school to school though).

IMHO, it likely has more to do with anytime there is talk about anything that would shift educational funds and students from public to private, the public education folks seem to be automatically against it. One way I've heard it put was 'those in public education have to support public education'. I think in certajn cases you could substitute the word private for public in that sentence for that matter. It seems that is more public v private/us v them debate these days than 'those in education no matter if public or private should support improving education no matter if that means through public or private means.'

But what do I know. Where I come from the overcrowded but excellent public school system essentially put the parachial school out of business in the '60s (why pay for private when public is excellent), then hired their staff and got the parish to lease their school building to the school system (minus the religious artifacts) relieving overcrowding in the public schools without having to build. After the bubble passed and population decreased with the economic downturn in the '70s, the lease was ended, meaning no undercapacity problem. These days the parish just supports the public schools, especially the alternative HS, through its charitable/volunteer efforts. Sshh, don't tell anyone because surely someone will find an issue with it even though it was a win/win for the students, the school system, the parish and the taxpayers.