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

[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.