Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel: No HS diploma without a plan for graduation

[groundloop]

Source: CBS News

Mayor Rahm Emanuel appeared on “CBS This Morning” on Wednesday to discuss his new proposal, which would require students to develop a post-high school plan before receiving a diploma.

Chicago would be the first city to adopt such a requirement if the measure is approved by the city’s board of education.

“We live in a period of time where you earn what you learn,” Emanuel said. “The school system of K through 12 is not applicable to the world and the economy and the world that our high school students are graduating to. So we’re moving to a pre-K to college model.”

Under the proposal, all Chicago Public School students starting with this year’s freshman class would have to show an acceptance letter to a four-year university, a community college, a trade school or apprenticeship, an internship, or a branch of the armed services in order to receive their high school diploma.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/chicago-mayor-rahm-emanuel-no-hs-diploma-without-a-plan-for-graduation/

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Sorry Rahm, your plan makes zero sense.

Granted, a HS diploma is a stepping stone and not an end in itself anymore. However, instead of crackpot suggestions such as this why not do more to help place kids in college, trade schools, etc.?

[Odoreida]

1. Am I being too cynical?

Plan: Go to community college so I can learn to read well enough to get a city job.

[underthematrix]

2. I love it.

[snooper2]

3. This is pretty damn stupid

[JustAnotherGen]

4. Don't you need the HS diploma

To JOIN the military? Am I missing something here - Other than - I disagree with it entirely.

[mopinko]

5. you can sign up before you are ready to go, so

i assume that is not an issue.

but it is a sorta dumb idea. i agree that kids need to do more than graduate high school, but what if they have a job lined up?
some kids move into family businesses, or may already be on a career path via a current job.
i think they have a couple bugs to work out.

[MissB]

12. Yep. One kid that I didn't include in my post below

went off to work. He didn't graduate from our high school- he moved to a different high school before his freshman year. The kids that "graduated" together in 8th grade get together again right before they all graduate from high school, no matter which high school they end up at.

It's a fun morning of seeing kids and parents that haven't been seen in awhile. I was talking to this kid's mom and asked her about his post high school plans. She said he had been working as a programmer the last year of high school and they were offering him a near 6-figure salary to go full time. He decided that was better than college.

His choice.

[cstanleytech]

7. That or a GED will work which if they can take the test for easily enough if they want to really

join the military and cant get the HS diploma.

[RedWedge]

6. This is terrible.

[pnwmom]

8. Dumb, dumb, dumb. n/t

[MissB]

9. I am thrilled to send both of my kids to college.

College has been a topic of conversation in our household since the kids were born. Our expectation has been that they will go off to college and get a degree or two.

I'm well aware that not every kid is cut out for college, or community college, or a trade school or an internship. Why force the issue? I think you can encourage the planning part beginning their freshman year without tying it to a silly requirement that simply doesn't fit everyone.

Our kids attended a college prep high school. (Well, one still has two more months but really it's all but over.) Last year in my oldest son's graduation class of 60 kids, there were a few kids that opted for a non traditional route. One kid went to France to explore film making. One kid went to Israel for a gap year. There was a third kid that went into the fashion modeling world. A couple of kids went into military service (mostly service academies but one kid was enlisting.) This district is full of $$$. The kids could go to college if they wanted to but some have made the decision to do something else.

They had a plan. That's the important part. But they'd earned their high school diplomas just as much as my kid did.

[GWC58]

10. This is a plain

stupid, dumb, idiotic idea. It won't pass the smell test, either!

[cstanleytech]

11. I think its a silly idea to deny them the HS diploma for the lack of a plan.

What really needs to be done is to fix the real problems that people face early in life like growing up in extreme poverty and being forced to move from place, to place to place constantly or in other words you need to help the parents with raising the kids.
Provide things like free childcare for working parents and affordable housing for people so they arent forced to move over and over again and have some stability in their life.
No, that doesnt mean provide them a mansion it simply means basic and clean housing.
If all that was done I bet you would see alot more people going on past High School and getting better education and better jobs.

[Solly Mack]

13. I've seen kids wait until the last second to declare a major because they had no fucking clue

what they really wanted to do in the future.

And he wants kids in HS to submit a plan for their futures?

Did they earn their diploma? Then give it to them.

If you want to get them on the right track for higher education or trade school, then there are better, more effective ways, to go about it.

This is a feel good sop with no merit.

[Demit]

14. Sounds vaguely like blackmail.

I mean, a diploma is an award for having completed an area of study. Not a carrot on a stick requiring you to do something else before you can get it. Rahm Emmanuel and his authoritarian tendencies, bah.

[DRoseDARs]

15. The socio-economic elitism has always oozed off this man...

...And wouldn't this violate student rights to equal access to education by denying them the right to complete their compulsory participation in the K-12 system? Not every family can afford civilian post-hs education, and our military is not compulsory so that dog don't hunt either. This guy is a snob, has always been a snob, and always will be a snob.

[Vinca]

16. That's ridiculous.

[wcast]

17. I am a special education teacher in PA

While this plan may go a little overboard, the idea of planning and transitioning to adult life is important. Starting when an IEP student turns 14, we have to include transition planning as part of the IEP. What does the child need to live independently, what resources do they need to be successful in a job as an adult, what do they want to do. We are even to help them register to vote, get a driver's license.

This is every IEP student in PA. While it is true that many students don't know what they want to do, schools should be providing students with the skills and education to be a successful adult in whatever way the students define that.

Too many students are pushed into a 4 year program, or don't know any other options. There are many jobs that require only 4 months to 2 years of training to make a good living. We should, as a nation, provide more opportunities for apprentices, job training, etc. America still has good jobs like plumbing, electrical welding, etc.

Instead our focus is on standardized tests designed only to prove schools are failing, not to provide the best education for students.

[cab67]

25. I agree with much of what you say.

We do need to better prepare adolescents for adult life, and we do often treat those who don't go to college as a lesser form of adult. And as a college instructor, I've seen first-hand the damage standardized tests are doing to education.

But requiring a student to actually obtain documentation of what he or she will actually do immediately after high school is beyond foolish. It cannot account for paths of life that come without written documentation, and we should allow people in the adolescent-adult transitional period (17-22 years, more or less) as much freedom and latitude as possible to plan their futures. We should be decreasing the constraints on their lives, not encouraging them to narrow their futures at that age.

[wcast]

34. I agrwe with your last paragraph.

Requiring documentation to prove your plan after high school is overkill and could be limiting. Very few know what they want to do at 18. It took me until 21.

[radical noodle]

30. My daughter is a Special Education teacher

and I agree with you 100%.

[Honeycombe8]

40. I agree. I think it's worth a try to try to get them thinking about it early on.

I was a kid w/o much parental guidance.

I imagine there are many kids in Chicago who were in my situation. They just need some help in planning and focusing and thinking about a future because the parents aren't doing it. Maybe it won't help. But maybe it would.

[HoneyBadger]

18. This is discriminatory and insane

A college educated family is likely to have a plan. A family without, might not.

[LakeArenal]

19. And he's a democrat.. Sad...

Hasn't he been after public school since he's been elected? I believe the teacher's union isn't that happy with him..

[muntrv]

20. What if they just want to work after high school?

[7962]

21. Your comment is spot-on.

Trade schools need to be much more of a focus moving forward. We have a huge need for people trained in the trades. And the jobs pay well too. But everyone keeps pushing college college college. 3/4 of the most successful people i know dont have a degree

[cab67]

22. speaking as a college professor -

This is absurd. I'm surprised someone with an education would even suggest it, and it should be dismissed out of hand.

My fall semester course has lots of freshmen. Some of them know what they want to do. Others think they know, but will end up doing something else. Most really don't know what they want to do, and that's just fine. Part of my job as a professor is to expose students to subjects they may not have encountered, and some of them might decide to pursue it as a profession.

What about kids who want to be stay-at-home parents? Or who want to work for a while before moving on to college or the military? Or who want to work and not necessarily go to college? And who don't have a job yet because they're still in school?

I agree completely with some of the comments above - college isn't for everyone, and neither is the military. There are many paths in life, and not all pass through the same gate.

Seriously - this is a stinkburger of an idea.

[FakeNoose]

23. It sounds more like a challenge to parents

Teachers can only do so much, and it's up to parents to do the parenting.
You know, when it comes to your kid making life-changing decisions and all.

Too many parents have been completely lazy and then they blame teachers when their kid ends up in jail or on the street. It has to start early. Parents can't wait till the kid is 17 or 18 to get involved, either.

Just sayin'

[LisaM]

24. This is absolutely ridiculous.

Why do we have this notion that education can't be an end in itself? And, for some people, getting a high-school diploma is a major achievement - they could be the first person in their family to get one. Why diminish it?

Rahm Emanuel frustrates me. Early promise, turned into kind of a jerk.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

26. Truly dumb idea.

If our high schools started doing a whole lot more vocational training -- a sadly unpopular idea these days -- then there'd be a smidgen of merit here.

And I agree that 4year colleges are pushed on kids as if that actually is appropriate for everyone. The up side of community colleges is that they all have many programs, some of which are only several months long, that can lead directly to a decent job.

[GeorgeGist]

27. laughable.

[LisaM]

28. You know, it also seems to me that this will foster a higher dropout rate.

If you don't have one of Rahm's plans, what possible incentive is there to graduate? Having a high school diploma could matter five or ten years down the road as much as it does the day after high school ends. If this is implemented (and I'm pretty sure it won't be, everything about it sounds insane), watch the dropout rate in Chicago skyrocket.

[ColemanMaskell]

35. My thought exactly. Also would foster lying and cheating.

If he wants to do something realistic, create a course they can take on post-graduation transitioning, in the same spirit as Driver's ed and Sex ed. Guess they don't have guidance counsellors anymore?

[LisaM]

41. So a commenter on Daily Kos figured out what this really is.

It’s a giveaway to education lenders, diploma mills and military recruitment.

[Demonaut]

29. I like it

[exboyfil]

31. Ridiculous

Empty symbolism worthy of our pretender in chief. How the heck is an internship more valuable than gainful employment?????

[Honeycombe8]

32. I think it's a good idea. It may not work in the end....

but it's worth a try.

This would get kids thinking early on about their futures. Many kids are raised by parents (to the extent some are "raised" at all) not to think about their futures at all. I was. It was expected, I suppose, that I'd marry and never work. Being raised by a mother who had never worked, she didn't have a clue about life plans, working, careers, money, or anything.

If I'd had to turn in a plan and actually apply somewhere by my freshman year, I think it would have started me down a path of at least thinking about post-high school, earning a living, and maybe I should make better grades.

It's worth a try. Maybe if a kid can't get accepted anywhere (payment would be a huge obstacle), but shows an earnest effort, he should get the degree? There may need to be tweaks.

[ColemanMaskell]

36. Seriously?

Some kids will drop out. Some will apply to college or junior college just to get the acceptance letter to show, and then not attend. The only planning it encourages is subterfuge.

They could organize a little class course where they explained to kids what the options are and how to go about them, advantages and disadvantages, and so on.

[Honeycombe8]

39. Yeah, I think it's worth a try.

I think it really might help getting kids thinking about their futures. Like I said, it may need to be tweaked, to account for those whose grades are barely passable and can't get into a college, or can't pay for a trade school. But I think it's helpful to kids as guidance.

It would, for instance, prompt them to search around for trade schools they wouldn't ordinarily consider or know about, think about community college, think about different jobs and pay, etc.

Good for kids who don't have guidance at home, like my situation. I never even gave a thought to a future until later in high school, and then only in passing. Although I was very intelligent and had natural abilities and teachers had spoken to me to try to get me focused, to no avail. My mother wasn't that kind of mother. I was sort of left to raise myself with not much guidance. It would have been helpful to have me focus early on college or trade school. It may not have done much good, but it might have.

I'm guessing there a lot of kids in Chicago w/o parental guidance. So I think it's worth a try. Sounds like Chicago is desperate to deal with a situation.

[Demonaut]

43. it's start, if it helps the students

maybe make it a required class.

[Demsrule86]

47. I taught school for more than a few years...haven't taught in Ohio...it won't work.

Already the stupid plans many of the pols have come up with caused a spike in drop outs... This guy in my opinion is more Republican than Democrat...and what if the kid says he plans to sit in his room and play video games...if he completed the required courses...it is up to him...denying high school diplomas has really bad consequences for kids.

[Turn CO Blue]

33. I had zero idea what I wanted to do when I was 14 and in 9th grade, and why should I have known?

I am 51 now, still don't know.

[PSPS]

37. LOL. What a fool. But, hey! "You earn what you learn" kind of rhymes, so it must be right!!11!1!

I remember when one employer or another would ask me what my "5-year plan" was for myself in the company as part of an "evaluation." In every case, that would render my opinion of them into the "idiot" column and I would forever after consider them to be intellectually inferior.

[MyNameGoesHere]

38. Preparing kids for real life is so fucking dumb!

Wait that sounded stupid. Well I like it better than you have to show up and not be an asshole rule for a diploma we currently have.

[Jim Lane]

42. I wonder who empties the wastebasket in Rahm's office each night.

As I read the OP, it's not an acceptable plan to say, "I'm not going to college or a trade school or the military. I saw on the City of Chicago's website that there are job openings for janitors at municipal buildings and that's what I'll do."

Presumably, somewhere down the road, after every Chicago high school graduate is competing for the Nobel Prize, the city will have to import its janitors from other jurisdictions.

[milestogo]

44. What if your plan is to learn to run the family business?

The restaurant, dry cleaners, etc. What if your plan is to be a beautician or auto mechanic?

[malthaussen]

45. "earn what you learn?" WTF is that supposed to mean?

To me, he's laying the groundwork to destroy public education altogether. After all, if the "current system" doesn't work, then there is no need to perpetuate it.

There are so many things wrong with this "proposal," I don't know where to start. Why doesn't he insist on a "plan" from 3 yrs onward?

-- Mal

[Demsrule86]

46. Don't put obstacles in the way of graduation...it is a bad idea.

Already our policies of forcing all kids to take Pre-calculus and Pysics, community service(many kids help support their families) and other stuff...creates a large drop out rate.

[yurbud]

48. Rahm has zero credibility on education issues because of his support for privatization

[yurbud]

49. he is a cancer on the Democratic Party