
Chicago Schools to Students:Submit to Our Choices for Your Futures or No Diploma - protomyth
http://reason.com/blog/2017/07/05/chicago-schools-to-students-submit-to-ou
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wahern

      > The official description of this new demand notes that the
      > mayor and district are attempting to raise $1 million to
      > create new positions for "college and career coaches."
      > This a jobs program for them. Installing this system is
      > meant to create leverage to ratchet up administrative
      > funding.
    

The fiscal budget for the Chicago Public School district is over $5
billion.[1] A request for $1 million is pretty thin evidence for a supposed
plan to ratchet up funding.

    
    
      > It's not just about blackmailing students and parents into
      > declaring they'll conform to a set of roles in order to
      > get out from under the state's thumb.
    

Huh? Once you're 18 you're free to drop out, regardless.

    
    
      > Currently Chicago requires students to earn one credit in
      > biology and two credits in other lab sciences. They're
      > changing the system so that in order to graduate, students
      > must pass biology, chemistry, and physics classes. No more
      > choices.
    

The horror! Of course, I'm sure there are remedial biology, chemistry, and
physics classes. Perhaps the requirement will have the unfortunate consequence
of lowering the bar for passing those classes, or maybe even of the non-
remedial classes. But at least on its face it looks like an attempt to raise
the bar, and I can't see how that's an obviously bad thing.

Imagine if a high school degree once again was evidence of mastery of some
minimal skillset and knowledge. Won't change much for the kids who drop out or
who graduate by aging out, but it might do wonders for those who never attain
a higher degree. Now imagine pummeling any administration which does anything
but make a high school diploma guaranteed merely for showing up.

The mind boggles. It's almost as if the Reason article was written by a surely
high school libertarian.

[1] Now that's downright shocking, frankly. But maybe I'm getting old.
Throwing out (and reacting to) big numbers as prima facie evidence for poor
fiscal responsibility is a pasttime of old folk who don't put much thought
into the ravages of inflation, especially of education and health care.

