Chicago's new requirement for high school students: No plan, no diploma

[mikeakanice]

http://www.abc2news.com/news/nationa...lan-no-diploma

A product of Chicago's South Side, DeAvion Gillarm will be the first in his family to attend college.

"I always had a plan," said Gillarm, a Morgan Park High School graduate headed to Lincoln College next month. "You're not going to be successful without a plan."

Under a controversial new requirement, starting in 2020, students hoping to graduate from a public high school in Chicago must provide evidence they, too, have a plan for the future: either acceptance to college or a gap-year program, a trade apprenticeship, military enlistment or a job offer.

"It will help students think about what they want to do next in life," said Gillarm, who wants to study exercise science in college.

But not everyone is sold on a plan that Mayor Rahm Emanuel said will steer every graduating senior in the nation's third-largest school system on "a path toward a successful life."

Chicago Republican Party chairman Chris Cleveland, the parent of a public school student, said the Democratic mayor should instead focus on reducing a public high school dropout rate of nearly 30%. He questioned how the cash-strapped school system will pay for additional guidance counselors to help students develop post-secondary plans.

"How can they deny a high school kid a diploma he or she has earned?" Cleveland asked. "It's all well and good that they're asking kids to think about their futures, but denying a kid a diploma because they didn't get into college or get a job is absurd."

'A pre-K to college model'

The Chicago Board of Education approved the plan, known as "Learn. Plan. Succeed," in May. With 381,000 students, Chicago Public Schools would become the first large urban district to implement such a requirement, according to city officials.

Public high school graduation requirements currently include science courses and 40 hours of community service.

"Yes, it is a requirement, but we're going to support you to also ensure you have a post-high school educational plan," Emanuel said during a National Press Club event last month.
"The idea that you are going to actually have a post-high school educational plan and all of a sudden we're putting a burden on our kids' backs -- I guarantee you the kids in Chicago will be better prepared for the future than any other child. Every other school system today leaves it to chance."

About 60% of district students have post-secondary plans when they graduate, Emanuel said.

"I cannot in good conscience as a mayor allow the other 40% to not have a plan that the economy will require of them later in life," he said. "Will achieving this require more of us? Yes, of course. But as a parent I would never leave it to chance that my kids have a plan post-high school, and as mayor I refuse the notion that the future of any child in this city should be treated any differently."

Despite a high school graduation rate of about 73%, the number of Chicago students going on to college has not been promising. An estimated 18% of ninth-graders graduate high school and go on to earn a bachelor's degree within 10 years of starting high school, according to a 2016 study by the University of Chicago's Consortium on School Research.

"A K-12 model was relevant 10, 15, 20 years ago," Emanuel said in April when announcing the initiative. "The city of Chicago is moving toward a pre-K to college model."

'A good plan on paper'

The school system laid off nearly 500 teachers and more than 1,000 support staff in 2015, but Janice Jackson, chief education officer for the public schools, said the new initiative will not place additional strain on the workload of guidance counselors.

Still, the district and city officials are working to raise about $1 million to pay for eight additional college and career coaches.

"This requires a mind shift," Jackson said. "We are shifting hearts and minds about what children in urban school districts can do."

Jackson noted that the new requirement would be waived for students with "extenuating circumstances."

"The population here in Chicago is extremely diverse, and while many of our kids have struggles to overcome to be successful in school, we wanted to make sure we were taking those things into consideration," she said without elaborating.

But critics are not convinced.

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said the plan was poorly thought out and would place additional burdens on counselors.

"Sounds like a good plan on paper, but I also wonder what do kids know what they want to do at or accomplish at 17 years old," Lewis said.

"I can't imagine you do all the work you do to graduate that you get your diploma withheld from you."


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So what do you guys think? Will it motivate these kids to start thinking about who they want to be once they graduate or will it only decrease the already low graduation rates of Chicago education system. Did you have an idea of what you wanted to be at 16-18?

[Pendulous]

Yeah, sure, long as college was free.

[JohnBrown1917]

So why do they want to lower the graduation rates? How are they benefiting from that?

[Scottyjscizzle]

Yeah, sure, long as college was free.

Nah that's what the military is for, gotta funnel the poor into it somehow.

[EnclosedOne]

so what happens when students that are already at risk for dropping out get told they won't get a diploma if they don't do one of the above mentioned things? They'll drop out of course because whats the point of being there and not getting a diploma even if you pass all the required classes.

[Templar 331]

Well aint that a slap in the face. Thirteen years of school and you won't have anything to show for it unless you can prove that what you're going to do afterward is right in this mayor's eyes.

[Auxora]

Kind of a silly rule. Most schools in my area (and I thought most did) at least had school counselors meet with every single student and help them form a life plan for post-graduation. So I'd hope that was already happening at that level. But making it a requirement for graduation makes no sense because it will cause students to just make up anything.

The issue with Chicago schools is far more shrinking attendance because parents and kids are scared to death to go to school for fear of being shot on the way which happens often. Even safe routes around those schools haven't helped that much. So attendance is way down, which means school budgets in those areas are way down because they go off of enrollment numbers. So then they have fewer teachers and resources at schools that are already very tough to find good teachers for in high crime areas.

[Deleted]

I thought the point of high school was to give children the necesary tools for the future.
If they actually need a plan, there should be a "make the plan" subject or class where they make it.

[Traveler Voltin]

More dropouts
More gang members
More crime

[Super Kami Dende]

Not a completely bad idea, at least it would help Weed out the useless people that have School Funding wasted on them.

[Independent voter]

Well, if they have a plan they can start setting goals and achieving those goals. I guess if it only helps a few students it's still a good thing.

[Miyagie]

Well aint that a slap in the face. Thirteen years of school and you won't have anything to show for it unless you can prove that what you're going to do afterward is right in this mayor's eyes.

One state in germany (Thueringen) had a fucked up law, when you take the hardest schoolform in germany and fail after 12 years you wont even have a diploma.
That leed to germanys worst amok run by a failing student.
All other states in germany give you a lower diploma (Realschulabschluss).

[Ehrenpanzer]

This will certainly only help Chicagos massive gun violence problem

[JohnBrown1917]

Not a completely bad idea, at least it would help Weed out the useless people that have School Funding wasted on them.

They will still finish school, did you actually read it? It won't save money.

[Super Kami Dende]

They will still finish school, did you actually read it? It won't save money.

Will they though? or will they just drop out earlier?

[Templar 331]

One state in germany (Thueringen) had a fucked up law, when you take the hardest schoolform in germany and fail after 12 years you wont even have a diploma.
That leed to germanys worst amok run by a failing student.
All other states in germany give you a lower diploma (Realschulabschluss).

We have G.E.D.(General Education Diploma) which is kind of a lesser diploma for people who don't finish or drop out of school.

[Video Games]

I don't think this is very fair. I couldn't go to college till I was 24.

[JohnBrown1917]

Will they though? or will they just drop out earlier?

Yes, i'm sure upping the drop-out rate by giving students more reasons to drop out will be a good thing, will really benefit the future.
Genius movie, truly.

Is this just a loop hole to get people you deem 'useless' out of school without directly kicking them out?

[Miyagie]

We have G.E.D.(General Education Diploma) which is kind of a lesser diploma for people who don't finish or drop out of school.

And what can you do with a G.E.D. ? The Realschulabschluss still count as a good diploma here and you can even go on some universities.

[LaplaceNoMa]

Yeah, sure, long as college was free.

Nothing in life is 'free'. Even if someone else pays in your stead, it's not 'free' even for you in the long term.