Yes bk1, I read that our state tests cover the 2nd half of 2nd grade and the 1st of 3rd grade .... well, normally most of the 1st half of any school year is review of the previous year!

Bk1 - I would try some living math books, perhaps an older math student-mentor that he connects with to try and turn around his thoughts on math. I wonder if there is something to what i read online that gifted students retain less when the material moves too slow. Perhaps that is why he thinks he is not good at math. I know I've seen this with my own son. After a disastrous K year and son hating math, a teacher friend suggested I teach math at home. I started him in RightStart. He soared. Then school started again and it was hit or miss depending on homework. I noticed we got bogged down. RS expects students to make leaps in thought periodically and he wasn't making those. I realized it was because we were moving too slowly. Once we made math a priority and was doing it everyday again, he was back up to speed, making those leaps, and retaining what he was learning.

bk1, I have had only a few meetings with teachers, never yet with the principal. But even in those few meetings I have always felt pushy, too sure of my ds's abilities although they might not fit in any well definied category. You're right, pushing for your kids is what we parents are supposed to do.
We just worked our way through phase 1 of having my son evaluated for giftedness by the public school system here and it really was work. The initial evaluation stated that scores were great, reading levels were great, but they were going to collect more information over the course of 3 months to make a final determination on his eligibility. I basically dug through all the last 6 years worth of drawings and projects from my ds and found what I felt was a large but worthy stack of items to bring in...and bring in and bring in. I went back to the teacher collecting these samples over and over to present items. Some she would take, some not. DS would bring home things graded by his regular teacher (who was supposed to be passing these on to the gifted teacher) and I would send them right back to the g.teacher!
After the evaluation concluded, the gifted teacher called to let me know the (good) results and was quite emphatic in thanking me for sending in all the examples, implying that it really made the difference.
Now my sister, dd's in the same county, is going through the same trial, I have told her to keep pushing and that it seems like the schools won't accept a child into one of these programs without some blood from the parents! Some proof that they are really really committed to their kids success. Or should be committed
So, let the tears flow and when the school pushes away, push right back!