Daley (Mayor of Chicago) proposes fifth year of high school

The Chicago Sun-Times ^ | August 25, 2006 | Frank Spielman

[Clintonfatigued]

Mayor Daley suggested Thursday that high school be extended for a fifth year to defray college education costs now squeezing working poor and middle-class families.

[Gordongekko909]

Mmm. Free lunch!

[Gordongekko909]

Dude, vouchers are like kryptonite to the teachers' unions.

[Clintonfatigued]

Mayor Daley isn't the first to propose this. Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has also indicated he thinks it's a good idea.

[mcvey]

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This really is politics at its cheapest. How would you accredit these courses? How would you transfer them? Would out-of-state schools understand that that fifth year did not meant that the students had been held back?

The implications boggle the mind. This is not going to happen and if it does it will create such a titanic mess that, gosh, we will need another big dollar solution to solve it.

McVey

[darkangel82]

He said that in an election year? Dang, how stupid can you get?

[thoughtomator]

Um... a more sensible approach would be to halve the number of years in school from 12 to 6, because that's all the material they learn these days, anyway (if that).

[Michael Goldsberry]

fifth year of high school

That's usually known as a "Freshman."

[Samwise]

While we're at it, why don't we mandate smaller gas tanks on cars to help people deal with rising gas prices?

That won't work. We need to pass legislation to double the size of a gallon, then we could get 60 miles per gallon of gas.

[mgstarr]

Richie is an ass and an idiot.

Lord know why Chicagoans votes for him.

I lived there during his first term.

[CrazyIvan]

"Hmm. I never figured Rich Daley for stupid. At least not that stupid."

Have you ever heard the man speak? He could use another year of grammar school.

[JHBowden]

Want to lower college costs?

End the Department of Education, which is a reactionary, affirmative action program for yuppie kids.

Artificially inflating demand for a product increases the equilibrium price.

[TWfromTEXAS]

in the mid 40's my grandmother was the last class in Texas that only had to go 11 years. she graduated from college in 3 years and was 19 when she got out. she was far smarter, and educated than most people i know.

[theDentist]

My thanks CF. For that observation, on your next visit, I'll use the REAL novacaine. :-)

[goodnesswins]

goodnesswins suggests they BAN HIGHSCHOOL.....if they haven't learned the basics by age 14.....they need to start learning about life.

[edwin hubble]

"If anything, the fourth year of high school needs to be eliminated. College prep courses that carry no transferable college credit in high school are a waste of time.

Kids today can handle it. Year 12 is a babysitting waste."


Actually, that was proposed for Virginia.
So many seniors are taking AP and college courses.

[Clintonfatigued]

I wonder if this will cost him any votes?

[A CA Guy]

Give only half the money they provide to public schools in vouchers and return the other half back to the State Treasury to pay off bonds or something else.

The unions of the state and federal government are destroying us just as they have businesses in the private sector.

Why do some think they have some right to do that?

[RichInOC]

No, I hadn't heard him that much, but I understand that's sort of an old family tradition.

[upchuck]

Hallooou Mayor Daley.

Who pays for the current K-12 system?

And who would pay for this extra year?

Moron!

[garyhope]

How many years does it take to teach kids basic reading, writing and math, some American and world history, geography, science, basic thinking and logic?

Maybe we could use less years in school and more of them working or traveling the world and learning something else.

Maybe we should teach them how to prepare for their financial future and how to keep their pants on (or up), not get married until you're fully prepared for adulthood and not endlessly reproduce without preparation.

I think when you finish high school, the government should issue you a passport, a backpack, a limited debit card, some good sturdy shoes and an airline ticket out of the country. You should stay gone for a year or two and come back fully cognizant and chastised about how good and wonderful America really is compared to the rest of the crappy world. Then you go to work and actually produce something besides words, slogans, drivel and "protests".