Rahm Emanuel wants to require acceptance letters for high school graduation

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

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Chicago Tribune

This idea just sounds foolish to me.  The student debt crisis exists in part because we force on people the idea that one must have some type of formal training after high school to be successful at all.  Not all high school graduates are prepared for college and plenty of people don't want or need college.  There's blue collar work, starting your own business, pursuing a career in the arts, etc.  The only thing this guarantees is a mountain of debt for people who otherwise wouldn't feel compelled to apply at these schools.

If the city passes this, it will probably (hopefully) be blocked by the courts because acceptance letters are not required by state law.  I'm not sure how the city would enforce this, either.

[Mr. Reactionary]

What a dick.

[Santander]

So literally a school to prison pipeline.

[KingSweden]

I appreciate the why, but the how here is a godawful idea

[JA]

What a dick.

[Devout Centrist]

This is up there with school uniforms as bad ideas.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

This has to be one of the dumbest ideas in history.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Unironic references to "14th grade" make me shudder.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Corporate Democrats are scum of the earth.

If a Republican proposed this...there would be phony outrage from Democrats.

I'm actually outraged now.

This is effectively saying "our high schools don't give you an education that can get you through life". Which is equivalent to admitting that they're failing.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Corporate Democrats are scum of the earth.

If a Republican proposed this...there would be phony outrage from Democrats.

I'm actually outraged now.

This is effectively saying "our high schools don't give you an education that can get you through life". Which is equivalent to admitting that they're failing.

     The thing is, high schools are failing. What amazes me is when politicians just want to shunt folks along to college as the solution rather than fixing high school. What happens when a Bachelor's degree can't get you through life (a point that we are closer to than anyone would like to admit)? Will Master's and professional degrees become mandatory?

[ProgressiveCanadian]

And this was Obama's cheif of staff...

[emailking]

Well I'm not a fan of this idea. If you meet the academic requirements to graduate, you should be able to graduate.

Maybe I could see some requirement that students explore their options. (Visit a community college, go to a college fair or talk or something.) But requiring them to actually apply (cost admission fees) much less be accepted is pretty silly since there's no requirement they pursue any of those 4 options after graduation. And you can be a productive member of society without going to college or joining the military.

[Antonio the Sixth]

People like him need to be purged from the party.

[kyc0705]

[Mr. Smith]

Hate to use Republican logic, but this punishes likely successes by discouraging venture pursuits that don't require college or deciding to work for someone else.

[KingSweden]

Corporate Democrats are scum of the earth.

If a Republican proposed this...there would be phony outrage from Democrats.

I'm actually outraged now.

This is effectively saying "our high schools don't give you an education that can get you through life". Which is equivalent to admitting that they're failing.

     The thing is, high schools are failing. What amazes me is when politicians just want to shunt folks along to college as the solution rather than fixing high school. What happens when a Bachelor's degree can't get you through life (a point that we are closer to than anyone would like to admit)? Will Master's and professional degrees become mandatory?

You've hit the nail on the head.

[136or142]

A bureaucratic waste of effort.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Hate to use Republican logic, but this punishes likely successes by discouraging venture pursuits that don't require college or deciding to work for someone else.

Not to mention that sometimes people may only be able to graduate high school. They are already going to be at a competitive disadvantage compared to those with college degrees; prohibiting them from even getting high school degrees creates a new underclass among those who might still get a high school diploma. My high school had a drop out rate higher than 15%, the vast majority poor blacks. Plenty of people I did graduate with had no college prospects. These people shouldn't be forced into the status of high school dropout just because they didnt waste $100 applying to a school that wont accept them. Especially since many of them were in the high school vocational training programs to become mechanics or cosmotoligists. Only an imbecile would propose such a stupid policy to improve education for the at risk.

[Ebowed]

Bad policy.  Placing further constraints on children who struggle to make it through the education system is not really conducive to improving life outcomes.  And, while this might be an unpopular viewpoint, I believe it pushes students in the wrong direction.  The truth is that you basically already need a college degree in order to get employment with decent conditions.  We should be making it easier for people to succeed without that "requirement," rather than taking the dastardly step of enshrining it.

[Blue3]

Awful.

Awful.

Awful.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I love the fact that conservatives, liberals, and socialists can all find common ground in agreeing that Rahm Emanuel is f**king trash.

[MasterJedi]

Awful, need to have the people who should be in college going there and get the rest to go into the trades. Skilled trades are sorely lacking people.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Awful, need to have the people who should be in college going there and get the rest to go into the trades. Skilled trades are sorely lacking people.

And being accepted into a trade program is one of the options.  It would be more ideal if they could get the necessary skills in high school rather than being forced to wait until tertiary education to get it, but unless Illinois is considerably different than most places, the State is the one that sets the requirements for a high school diploma and they are often skewed towards high school as college prep for all.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Just short of downright evil.

And, while this might be an unpopular viewpoint, I believe it pushes students in the wrong direction.  The truth is that you basically already need a college degree in order to get employment with decent conditions.  We should be making it easier for people to succeed without that "requirement," rather than taking the dastardly step of enshrining it.

If this is an unpopular viewpoint, then that fact itself is an enormous indictment of the American chattering classes' attitude towards education.

[Ebowed]

Just short of downright evil.

And, while this might be an unpopular viewpoint, I believe it pushes students in the wrong direction.  The truth is that you basically already need a college degree in order to get employment with decent conditions.  We should be making it easier for people to succeed without that "requirement," rather than taking the dastardly step of enshrining it.

If this is an unpopular viewpoint, then that fact itself is an enormous indictment of the American chattering classes' attitude towards education.

This policy in particular conjures an image in my mind of Rahm and his advisors wondering, "What is it that is stopping these kids from getting into college?  Do they just not want to be productive team players in our economy?"