# Chicago decides it has too many high school grads **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 6, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-decides-it-has-too-many-high-school-grads/783889 "2017-04-06T15:39:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-decides-it-has-too-many-high-school-grads/783889/21 "2017-04-06T20:37:36Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > That’s a failing business plan from day one. Acceptance letters aren’t printed on anything fancy, just plain old paper. Not even a watermark for community colleges. It won’t take long for a Word document document to start making the rounds with a digitized signature. Freelancing counterfeiters (those without clout) will be persecuted to the fullest extent of whatever law those with clout can manage to bring to bear. It’s the Chicago way. 😃 How about required acceptance letters that aren’t verified. Chicago is broke. They don’t have the money to spend verifying the authenticity of the thousands of letters they will receive each year. It’s perfect. Those in power promised improvement, and the voters won’t remember to demand to see the results before the next election. SSDD. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-decides-it-has-too-many-high-school-grads/783889/22 "2017-04-06T21:02:09Z")
Nobody has ever asked for my high school diploma. Okay, the Army did, once. No other jobs. Not even college. My guess is this will have very little actual effect. It _is_ shitty and misguided though, I’ll grant that. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-decides-it-has-too-many-high-school-grads/783889/23 "2017-04-06T21:06:18Z")
This is dumb, it’s just a way to massage a dumb statistic that doesn’t even mean anything. But I worked with an English teacher once who had her seniors do a project about their future plans–and part of that project was they had to complete an application for college or some other concrete step toward whatever their post-secondary plan was. You had to complete the project to get credit for the class, and you had to have credit for the class to graduate. That seemed like a good idea to me at the time–does it bother you as much? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-decides-it-has-too-many-high-school-grads/783889/24 "2017-04-06T21:22:08Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > This is dumb, it’s just a way to massage a dumb statistic that doesn’t even mean anything. > > But I worked with an English teacher once who had her seniors do a project about their future plans–and part of that project was they had to complete an application for college or some other concrete step toward whatever their post-secondary plan was. You had to complete the project to get credit for the class, and you had to have credit for the class to graduate. That seemed like a good idea to me at the time–does it bother you as much? No, that doesn’t bother me as much. “Some other concrete step” could include a lot of things, including a gap year or 10 years on a beach (“I researched beach jobs in Costa Rica,” for example) It’s legitimate for High School teachers to ask you to think about your future, and even explore some plans. The way the Chicago is apparently heading is much worse, as it doesn’t account for the wide range of options a student has. > [@](#): > > a graduating senior will be required to show an acceptance letter to a four-year university, a community college, a trade school or apprenticeship, an internship, or a branch of the armed services in order to receive their high school diploma. If I was a Chicago High School senior I think I’d like to make it plain to the School District that I don’t have any legal or moral obligation to do any of those things. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-decides-it-has-too-many-high-school-grads/783889/25 "2017-04-06T21:46:54Z")
Is this perhaps a backdoor money grab? I’m assuming City College of Chicago has a financial connection with the Chicago municipal government. Requiring students to have an acceptance letter requires them to formally apply for admission, even if they don’t intend to follow through by enrolling. But applying for admission presumably requires submitting an application fee. So the city is now essentially charging each high school student a fee to get their diploma. Sure, they could get their diploma by one of the alternative means but all of those are more expensive or require a greater commitment than applying for community college. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-decides-it-has-too-many-high-school-grads/783889/26 "2017-04-06T21:58:42Z")
A casual look at the CCoC website doesn’t indicate that there’s any fee for applying. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-decides-it-has-too-many-high-school-grads/783889/27 "2017-04-06T22:30:03Z")
Mike Royko would have had something to say about this. I miss his column. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-decides-it-has-too-many-high-school-grads/783889/28 "2017-04-07T06:04:15Z")
I miss Mayor Daley. This sort of nonsense would have never happened when Hizzoner was still alive. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-decides-it-has-too-many-high-school-grads/783889/29 "2017-04-07T11:27:57Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > California was that way for a number of years. You got something like a “certificate of high school completion” when you finish high school, but in order to get a “diploma,” you had to pass California’s standardized high school “exit exam.” (The exam was suspended at the start of 2016.) That’s a different kind of thing, though. I don’t think it’s unreasonable that, to graduate from high school, you have to pass a test showing you know how to read, write, and do math. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-decides-it-has-too-many-high-school-grads/783889/30 "2017-04-07T11:56:22Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Fuck it! Drop out in Freshman year. Sell dope. Profit! Poor and Failing business plan, the market is over saturated and pricing for products and services are running near or under to cost. Also, the industry suffers from a terrible lack of health coverage, and lack of overtime pay. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-decides-it-has-too-many-high-school-grads/783889/31 "2017-04-07T16:13:53Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > That’s a different kind of thing, though. I don’t think it’s unreasonable that, to graduate from high school, you have to pass a test showing you know how to read, write, and do math. Something that used to be proven by a student’s ability to advance thru the grades. Aaaah, the good 'ol days. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-decides-it-has-too-many-high-school-grads/783889/32 "2017-04-07T18:31:50Z")
> [@Weisshund](#): > > Poor and Failing business plan, the market is over saturated and pricing for products and services are running near or under to cost. > Also, the industry suffers from a terrible lack of health coverage, and lack of overtime pay. Not to mention serious occupational health issues. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-decides-it-has-too-many-high-school-grads/783889/33 "2017-04-07T18:49:07Z")
From the Tribune article: > [@](#): > > Emanuel and his office said the “groundbreaking” effort… Not all groundbreaking efforts are worth rushing into, quote the gravedigger. and > [@](#): > > “We all need to change how we think about what it means to be a high school graduate — a diploma alone isn’t enough anymore,” Jackson said in a statement. Not only is the last part of that statement provably wrong, it amounts to saying “even though this piece of paper is no good we’re going to withhold it until and unless you jump through more hoops”. No one, for any reason, has ever asked to see my high school diploma. Transcripts, yes, diploma no. So long as the transcripts are available, the city can keep the diploma and let a sheep live. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chicago-decides-it-has-too-many-high-school-grads/783889.md?page=1)