I agree that such a requirement should come with enough funding to provide enough gc’s in each school… 1 guidance counselor per 400 student per school minimum.
Right now it looks like there isn’t even ONE guidance counselor per school!!!
I didn’t realize the situation was so dire in Chicago.
So
1° hire guidance counselors so that no school has a ratio higher than 1:400.
2° set up a class, perhaps once a week or twice a month, to discuss planning
3° hire teachers to teach it.
4° make it a graduation requirement for kids graduating 4 years after the GC’s were hired and the curriculum implemented.
You know what just absolutely kills me about these things? It is very, VERY clear that they have absolutely no one in the room who has actually been poor, or in a failing school district, or anything of the sort. Or if there is, they’re being completely ignored.
It’s the same thing at my U right now. They’re trying to do a diversity and outreach initiative but pretty much everyone involved is white and from an upper middle to upper class background. Those of us from “diverse” backgrounds have tried reaching out but have been basically ignored.
IT’s just SO frustrating to watch and be sidelined.
@romanigypsyeyes: I work with a lot of disadvantaged students, so I think the idea of requiring “a plan” makes sense… (I’m currently very frustrated with students who can’t wrap their head around the concept that when high school ends… it wont be high school anymore) but I now understand why people were so upset at it. It’s an unfunded mandate, which is to say, a diktat - giving an order that pretends to do good while setting people up for failure.
And it would be an entirely different scenario if they were just requiring people to formulate a plan, write about what they think they would like to do. But an acceptance letter? That requires a commitment. Going in the military requires sacrificing your life, if necessary, something people need to think through completely. And the military is fairly selective now. You are correct, “pretending to do good while setting people up for failure”. If we want to help, we need to do so much more, and making high school diplomas harder to get…not good.
+1 to everything BD said.
For a long time I worked with middle school girls in a horrendous school system. We would make plans about what they had to do in high school in order to complete whatever x goal was. We did schedules, talked about ECs, and made a concrete, achievable plan.
There is a HUGE difference between that and requiring some sort of commitment and extra steps that may or may not be obtainable for many reasons.
In general, I don’t believe in adding more hurdles to a high school diploma. There’s already more than enough.
No one has said students without a plan will not graduate. This is just not true.
Chicago public school students do not do well in college. Mayor Emanuel has increased education for guidance counselors but it will need to funded with private donations. Part of the initiative for Chicago public school students to do better in college is to have a plan or goals in place prior to graduation.
Emanuel does not want our young people to think of a high school degree as a terminal education.
So are you saying this entire article, including the title is untrue? You certainly can’t say that no one has said that, the reporter certainly has. Have you read the article? It repeats that 4-5 times. Is the reporting completely off base?
[quote]
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.
[quote]
I don’t know what “requirement” means to you, but to me, “have to” means you do it or you don’t graduate.
My sources are all from the radio reports.
If you know anything about the history of Illinois politics and how many politicians have or are serving jail time you will know that requirement more likely means suggestion.
I think the mayor may need to detail his plans for life post-politics. I find myself in agreement with romanigypsyeyes, that does not happen often.
The mayor is not their parent. And even in the instance of your parents, you or your siblings could well have said “Sorry peeps, but I’m hitting the road and hitchhiking across the country bumming food and lodging from street people, see y’all 'round.”
Really, this is just offensive. Hopefully, people will call him out on it before it gets any traction.
absurd and aloof. you are not going to withhold someones diploma because of that. what does that mean? you finish all requirements but do not get a diploma or people will be stuck in high school until the age of 100 like a purgatory of some sort?
It’s a publicity stunt. CPS HS graduates automatically qualify for enrollment in City of Chicago junior college system, at minimal attendance cost, so this new policy is mere restatement of existing fact. However, 80% of CPS’ cc jr college students are enrolled in remedial “pre-college” coursework, because average grad (excluding grads from chicago’s top 10 selective-enrollment CPS high schools) simply isn’t ready for “college”. CPS does a miserable job “educating” their mostly low-income HS students, as evident in very low percentage of CPS grads that ever attain a bachelor degree.