Miles Kampf-Lassin writes in The Chicago Reader that Rahm Emanuel’s plan to deny high school diplomas to students who don’t have a definite commitment from a college, the military, or a trade school is a farce.
He writes:
On its face, this may seem like just the kind of bold, innovative, and results-driven solution Emanuel has often said is needed to address the city’s pressing problems. But viewed within the context of a school system struggling to stay afloat, in reality it comes off as more of a Swiftian proposal that threatens the very students it’s aimed at serving.
Emanuel and CPS are calling the proposal “Learn. Plan. Succeed.” They tout it as way to get students to focus on their continued education post-high school. “If you change expectations, it’s not hard for kids to adapt,” the mayor said at a press conference Wednesday morning.
What Emanuel left out was that it’s a bit more difficult to adapt when your school is chronically underfunded and under-resourced, as is the case for the more than half of CPS students who live in predominantly African-American and Latino neighborhoods on the south and west sides. This disparity has helped create a massive, 37-point gap in student achievement between black and white students in the city’s public schools.
Nowhere in the new initiate is there a plan to tackle this disparity, or to increase funding for crumbling schools—many of which are in such decrepit shape that principals complain about rat infestations while teachers are forced to buy basic supplies such as text books, pencils, and toilet paper.
And if their schools being mired in poverty isn’t enough motivation for students, there’s also the fact that CPS is now threatening to cut the school year short by three weeks. This follows a continued increase in furlough days in 2016-2017.
For all of the mayor’s self-praise for extending the amount of time students spend in the classroom, he never followed through on adequately funding the added time, which contributed to the growing budget crisis facing CPS. Now the system could be on the brink of taking a huge step backwards by cutting the school year nearly a month short….
While the mayor claims this will serve as motivation, it could also easily drive up drop-out rates by students who don’t have the support system they require to plan for secondary education while still in high school. CPS already has already seen a rise in layoffs of counselors due to budget cuts. Why stay in school if you might not even get a diploma upon graduating anyway?…
The plan is all but sure to be approved by the mayor’s hand picked board, another reason it’s a good idea to push for an elected school board.
But if the mayor really wants to help students succeed, he’d drop this initiative in favor of one that actually strengthens the city’s public schools. That’s something teachers, parents and students could all get behind.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Rahm Emanuel’s Outrageous New Graduation Requirements Would Help the Military Recruit from the Very Schools He Guts
The city of Chicago is encouraging military enlistment as a “postsecondary pathway.”
…The new rules, which must still be approved by the Board of Education, could present one more barrier for students who make their way through a gutted school system to get the diploma that they have earned, particularly for those who do not have the resources or time to obtain evidence of their post-graduation plans. According to CBS, undocumented or incarcerated students would be required to apply for a waiver to the rule.
A press release sent to AlterNet by Emanuel’s office lists “concrete steps” that would “meet the District’s ambitious proposed graduation requirement.” The second step listed is a “Military acceptance/enlistment letter.” When reached by phone, Emanuel’s press office repeatedly declined to explain, on the record, why military enlistment was included on the list and is being encouraged by the district. The press office of Chicago Public Schools did not immediately return a request for comment.
By including military enlistment in a list of now-mandated post-graduation plans, the Emanuel administration is effectively turning the students under his care into cannon fodder for the U.S. military. He is encouraging military enlistment in a high-poverty district where less than 10 percent of students are white and roughly 80 percent qualify for federal meal programs….
http://www.alternet.org/education/rahm-emanuels-outrageous-new-graduation-requirements-would-help-military-recruit-very#.WOuMfsK5Hik.gmail
In low-income ROTC-friendly schools the chance that military recruiters are carefully watching student scores—hoping to have a pre-graduation recruiting chat with those kids who are likely to squeak out a graduation but not head off to college—has been part of NCLB/R2T and the test-score game for years.
It’s pure politics. It doesn’t cost him anything, he doesn’t have to DO anything, but he gets credit for setting high standards.
So many ed reform proposals are like this- they’re all about what other people have to do – the people who dream them up don’t have to invest anything.
That’s why they’re so politically popular- they ask absolutely nothing of anyone except students and teachers.
I wouldn’t be afraid they would drop out. I would be afraid they would sign up for garbage online colleges and “coding camps” just to meet the requirement and then end up with thousands in debt and a worthless degree or certificate.
That will be the unintended consequence. They’ll be sitting ducks for all the edu-scammers out there
Thanks, Chiars. Sitting ducks is right.
I just don’t “get” mean people and their GREED. Do these deformers ever think of the future well-being of this country and Our Constitution?
This is yet another case of politicians tasking schools with a job that belongs to parents, without even acknowledging the (often) extreme lack of at home advocacy that exists for many students, and without acknowledging the kinds of supports needed to deal with the problem.
Why are schools the only link, in a long chain of child rearing, held accountable for the success of the child?
Today’s New York Times has a piece documenting how higher ed lenders have hurt students that are racking up debt for fields without enough jobs.
Why is it considered “bold” to announce you’re ordering a bunch of other people to do something, while doing nothing yourself other than making announcements?
I don’t think that’s “bold” at all. It’s risk-free for Rahm Emanuel. No matter what happens to the students he gets credit for doing something, while doing nothing to help them meet the mandate. It’s the opposite of “bold”. It’s easy.
Not that it matters and not that anyone in ed reform is listening but the biggest complaint from school districts in Ohio is the constantly shifting “standards” schemes.
They can’t plan effectively if every ed reform idea is immediately rubber-stamped and put into place and the rules change every 3 months.
“They can’t plan effectively if every ed reform idea is immediately rubber-stamped and put into place and the rules change every 3 months.”
Sadly, this situation is nothing new. The powers that be have been thinking up mandates for schools and teachers much longer than the perversions of the ed reformers. It was just much easier to ignore or skirt some of the idiocy. Even legislators who voted for certain actions knew they were silly and/or unworkable. This lust for innovation didn’t really infect the local level too badly until the deformers really reached top form. Up until then, it was usually the older, more seasoned teachers who would roll their eyes in staff meetings as the newest initiative was unveiled. The difference was that most initiatives were not expected to be operational immediately. There was a lot of prep and even field testing before any action was finalized. That was back in the days when teachers voices were recognized as authoritative. Since most of my experience has been in small affluent districts, I may be over generalizing. My final teaching assignment was in a large low income community; I’m not sure whether teachers ever had a voice there. It seems to me that the larger the community and the lower the socioeconomic status are, the more authoritarian the school governance tends to be.
Chicago’s schools are a mess as a result of both the governor and mayor’s disinvestment in public education. True to his neoliberal ideology, Emanuel dictates from on high and then punishes to enforce compliance. Punishment does not improve education; investment does. Not just investment of money, but a commitment to supporting poor, struggling students that both the state and city should be providing.
Rahm should fund the public schools.
The States should invest more in education.
The Federal Government should provide more funding for education.
Sounds good, BUT “they” aren’t funders, “they” collect “funding” from taxpayers
without the political leverage to “escape” taxation.
70% of US households have LESS than a $1000 in savings.
As per Judge Judy: Shoulda/Woulda/Coulda doesn’t cut it.
Why are poorer students dictated to while middle class and wealthy students are allowed a gap year to travel or volunteer to help people in Central America, Haiti, or Africa?
Any student who has completed the required courses and passed the state exams cannot legally be denied a diploma. Many of my ESL students must work and help support their families.
When I was in college in the 1980s, I could afford to work my way through college. It took me almost six years, but I graduated with no student loan debt. This is no longer an economic reality for young people.
My oldest grandson took a gap year after high school. It was a wise decision. He was immature and not ready for college, also extremely shy. He went with an organized group to hike in the wilderness for six months. He came back a changed person. He went from being a boy to being a man. He then went to Colorado College, where he did well in academics, joined a jazz band, continued his love of hiking and mountain climbing. Now he is on his own and he is an independent and self-sufficient young man.
His parents could afford it. If he had been in the Chicago public schools, the mayor would not have allowed him to graduate.
New York to Become 1st US State With Sanders-Style Free Tuition, This Fall
By teleSUR
10 April 17
The governor and state lawmakers reached an agreement to include the plan for free tuition for working and middle class families in the new budget.
New York is set to become the first U.S. state to make tuition free for students at public state universities and community colleges if they come from low- and middle-income families, a proposal that has been endorsed by former presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders, who promised free college education for all during his campaign.
The new plan, which is part of a deal struck by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the lawmakers as part of the state’s new almost US$160 billion budget, would see the state covering tuition for any student from a family earning less than US$125,000 a year by 2019…
Other expenses such as room and board, which can cost up to US$12,590, would not be covered under the plan. Students would also have to stay and work in the state after graduation for a period of time equivalent to the duration of their studies….
Fund public education!
This move shows the same amount of empathy as shown in the Dyett Hunger Strike. The same connection that is apparent when breaking ground for some new school while failing to do basic repairs in inner city schools. There are 2 things parent groups want they want to know that the people running the schools care and they want to be ASKED “what do you want?”
This link is interesting. Trump’s incoherence appears to goose Rahm’s nonsense policy. And unleash Rahm’s sudden “defense” of Chicago teachers and schools.
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20170405/midway/rahm-emanuel-donald-trump-chicago-public-schools-charter-schools
This is almost unbelievable. You don’t get a diploma–to document your high school accomplishment–unless you promise to do more with it. It’s like Rahm is having students justify education spending. Why doesn’t he just have them go to the state legislature and promise to make something of their lives instead of going to commencement exercises?