Learn. Plan. Failure the Chicago Public Schools

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel sincerely wants to do something to improve Chicago schools. I have no doubt of that. Unfortunately, his proposal — called “Learn. Plan. Succeed.” — falls short of the mark.Sounds good, right? But the City Colleges of Chicago, a system of seven community colleges, already guarantees admittance to any high school graduate. So all the high schools will do is get every graduating senior to apply for admission, whether they intend to go or not. That will require a dramatic increase in school counselors, of course, and there’s no budget for that.Chicago has the worst black unemployment of any of the five biggest cities in the country. Across the U.S., a staggering 51.3 percent of young black high school graduates are unemployed or underemployed (that is, forced to work part time involuntarily or giving up on finding a job).  Rev Jesse JacksonI’m the mom of two Chicago Public School students.  I’m also a CPS teacher working in a neighborhood school. As a double winner, I am intimately acquainted with the behemoth that is CPS.  And the latest “groundbreaking initiative” just adds to the dysfunction. Bethany Kaufmann