Currently, many schools in the United States offer both special education and gifted education programs. There are advantages of separating students into special education and gifted education schools. However, there are also some issues with this separation.

In the United States, a high school might have a special education program and gifted education courses, e.g. the Academically Gifted program in North Carolina. There are magnet schools in the United States. However, most are designed to be more specialized and not necessarily targeting academically gifted students. Some districts also have separate schools for students with learning disabilities, particularly with severe learning disabilities such as hearing loss.

The main advantage of separating special education, regular education, and gifted education students is the increased ability of a school to focus on the student's ability or disability. The school will be able to offer more courses, programs, and activities geared toward a particular student.

At academically gifted schools, there is less risk of talented students losing opportunities because of the presence of under performing students. For example, a non-separated school may divert its funding from advanced courses to remedial courses if many students fail to meet state and federal achievement standards. Separating schools is not the only potential solution to this issue. This issue may also be solved by simply increasing funding toward education or by reforming standards.

Another advantage of separating special education schools and regular schools is the decreased social stigma for the disabled student within the school. All students in the school will have similar disadvantages and will less likely "be made fun of" by other students at the school. However, the student may still face social stigma outside the special education school because of the fact that he or she attends the special education school.

The problem with separating schools into regular, gifted, and special education schools is the increased cost. It requires the expensive construction of buildings, hiring of more teachers and staff, and providing additional transportation.