Rahm Emanuel is the U.S. Ambassador to Japan. He served as Mayor of Chicago from 2011 to 2019 and previously served as White House Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama.
Education news these days has been dominated by inflated grades, absenteeism, smartphones in the classroom, and attempts to eliminate prep classes. It's definitely worth discussing. What gets forgotten in this debate is an equally important topic: 7,000 students in America drop out of high school every day.
We need to rethink this critical stage of education in terms of what our kids do next, with 72 percent of jobs predicted to require higher education or training by 2031. A high school diploma served us well in the industrial age, but students now need the skills to succeed in the digital age.
Recognizing that fundamental change is needed, President Biden proposed a plan last year to provide free access to community college, but with no congressional action in sight, other ways should be considered to address this need head-on.
In 2017, as Mayor of Chicago, I launched a groundbreaking initiative in our city's public schools called Learn. Plan. Succeed. It's a simple deal: To earn a high school diploma, all graduates must show a letter of admission from a college, community college, technical school, military, job-training program or job offer. Chicago is preparing all students for life after high school while they're in high school.
Many cities and states across the country are doing the opposite by cutting graduation requirements: This month, New York announced plans to make the century-old Regents exam optional, and late last year, Oregon did away with core subject proficiency tests.
These decisions are based on the belief that more requirements lead to higher dropout rates. Chicago rejected that premise. But Learn. Plan. Proficiency is far from a high-stakes, one-size-fits-all test that assesses what kids have learned over the past four years. The city's post-high school planning focuses on each individual and their future. The result is the highest high school graduation rate ever and near-perfect adherence to Learn. Plan. Proficiency.
And even though 73 percent of students come from low-income families, 65 percent of Chicago's graduates go on to college, in line with the national average. So raising the bar on expectations and requirements actually improved academic achievement, contrary to conventional wisdom.
“Learn. Plan. Succeed” is built on three pillars: expanding opportunities to earn college credit while in high school, improving graduation rates and expanding career counseling.
First, we expanded access to college-level coursework, including Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and community college dual credit and dual enrollment programs. Nearly 50% of all graduates now graduate high school with at least one vocational or college credential, an increase of nearly 20% in 10 years. For members of CPS's Class of 2023, this equates to approximately $18.2 million in tuition savings and approximately 125,000 credit hours earned.
Second, understanding that freshman grades are one of the strongest predictors of graduation, we focused on early interventions, like tutoring, for students who are falling behind. When I took office as Mayor in 2011, 69% of freshmen were on track, and our graduation rate was about 57%. We have since had eight consecutive years of on-track grades, reaching 88.7% and 84%, respectively, in 2023.
Now, every student receives a “Learn. Plan. Succeed” progress report during their second and third years that tracks course requirements and college benchmarks, suggests concrete steps supported by a “Higher Education Navigator” who helps students develop their career plans, and ensures students stay on their chosen path.
Meanwhile, our Chicago STAR Scholarship program, which we launched nearly 10 years ago, provides a free education, including tuition and textbooks, to City Colleges of Chicago graduates with a grade point average of a B or higher. Since 2015, nearly 16,000 students have received scholarships, 65% of whom are the first in their families to attend college.
Some may think that the US Ambassador to Japan should stay in his own sphere. I have never done so, and it is too late to change now. Here in Japan, I continue the tradition I started in Chicago of visiting high schools and discussing with students. I did it this month in Kyushu. Each time, I am impressed by the schools' graduation rates and the excellent performance of students in subjects such as mathematics and science. Unfortunately, the latter scores are far above US achievement scores.
We should embrace the idea that high school graduation is not the finish line and encourage cities and states to structure post-high school educational and career plans for all students, like a race to the top. This would be the most significant change in high school education and its purpose since universal high school education was introduced more than a century ago.
Every child deserves choice and opportunity, no matter where they live, how much their parents make, or who their parents know. To avoid another lost generation, we must shift the focus of high school from the diploma to what comes after graduation. Now is the time to create a new vision for high school that our kids and their futures deserve.
