The Chicago school system is considering withholding diplomas from students if they don’t have a plan for life after high school. They want you to produce an acceptance letter from college, a written job offer or proof of acceptance into the military. There are exceptions. If you are an illegal alien or have a criminal record, you will receive your diploma. So if you are about to graduate high school and have no plan, knock over a liquor store.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel says:
“The goal here is to no longer have 12th grade be the end of our responsibility. The economy and business today require a minimum of two years post-high school.”
“We want to make sure our kids do not see graduation from high school as the end point, but all of them have a plan and all of them have a specific acceptance on how to go to post-high-school education.”
Emanuel expects the measure to be approved. The Chicago Board of Education will consider the proposal next month. If the board passes it, it will apply to freshman graduating in 2020.
Alderman Scott Waguespack from Chicago’s 32nd ward questioned whether the plan would be helpful for students, especially those who are poorer.
“We all want our CPS kids to have the option to be college bound — but creating more barriers to graduation for kids already struggling with poverty, standardized testing madness and budget cuts at their schools is simply out of touch and wrongheaded,” Waguespack told a Chicago outlet.