Why Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Graduation Plan Is “Cruel”
Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.
~Franklin D. Roosevelt
By now most have heard about Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Graduation Plan to make students describe what they will do after school in order to get their diploma. Alexandra Rosenmann in Salon is calling it “cruel.” Students, in order to receive a diploma, must show that they have one of the following:
- A secure job.
- An acceptance letter from college.
- A trade apprenticeship.
- A gap year program.
- Acceptance into the military.
With all the problems Chicago has with gangs and violence, won’t this keep graduates from getting in trouble? Why, one might ask, is this plan considered cruel?
Here’s the rub.
Chicago has a long history of treating teachers and students unkindly in the name of privatization. In 2016, 1000 teachers and staff were laid off. They have shuttered Why Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Graduation Plan Is “Cruel”:
