Washington: A high school in the US state of Chicago has introduced a new controversial requirement which states that students hoping to graduate from the school must provide evidence they have a plan for the future.
Starting in 2020, the plan championed by Democrat Mayor Rahm Emanuel students must show they’ve been accepted into college, or the military, or into a trade or “gap-year” program, or have secured a job, the Washington Post reported. The idea is to raise expectations and thus produce better outcomes for students.
“We are going to help kids have a plan, because they’re going to need it to succeed,” Mr Emanuel said. “You cannot have kids think that 12th grade is done.”
Officials believe that preparing students to plan for “what’s next” will help, not hurt, the students. However, critics are worried that students who have completed four years of high school will be handicapped if denied a diploma.
Critics say Mr Emanuel’s idea is an empty gesture that does nothing to address the fact that many teenagers are graduating in impoverished, violence-racked neighborhoods with few jobs, columbiatribune.com reported.
