On Wednesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a new initiative he says would help advance academic achievement in Chicago Public Schools: a requirement for all high school students to present an acceptance letter to a college, military, or trades program in order to graduate.
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.
Instead, Emanuel has decided that it’s on students themselves to navigate the myriad issues facing the city’s school system, despite the fact that the disparities and exacting conditions they face in the classroom were created not by them, but rather by policymakers and politicians.
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.
