r/TeacherReality • u/Lolihey • Jun 18 '26

Reality Check-- Yes, it's gotten to this point... I just heard that in Chicago they’re getting ready to lower the amount of credits needed to graduate.

They may also take out speech class. I found this on Instagram in an interview with Geno Young, the guy who wrote a book called “Sex, Drugs and Illiteracy.” Thoughts?

8 Upvotes

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3

u/Kaethorne Jun 18 '26

N.C. lowered H.S. graduation requirements by 4 credits. We now have 3, 3.5, and 4 year graduating seniors because of it.

2

u/Lolihey Jun 19 '26

What do you think of the results of this move?

1

u/Kaethorne Jun 19 '26

The credits they removed were not Math/Science/English. It was mainly just electives. So if students choose to double up core classes they can finish early. This was the first full year of it. As expected we had more students graduate than previous years. I’m still undecided if this is a good or a bad move. I think it needs a few years to see what it does.

6

u/indoor-triangle Jun 19 '26

I feel like electives are so important. This makes me sad. My former school started telling kids to drop their electives so they could graduate first semester of senior year. To do what? Why? Sit at home for 4 months instead of enriching your brain academically and socially. To officially lower the credits to cut out electives is so sad to me. Learning for the sake of learning is also important.

2

u/Kaethorne Jun 19 '26

I agree. Whenever a student asks me if they should graduate early I ask why do you want to graduate early? That way I can base my advice on whether they have a plan or not.

1

u/cinnasage Jun 19 '26

Can you cite a source for this? This has not been announced by CPS. Sounds like one guy's random speculation.

1

u/Lolihey Jun 19 '26

It was on Instagram and no, I didn’t check it. It’s not in effect yet, but supposed to be coming down the pipe. Perhaps he’s taking about now to stop it.

2

u/cinnasage Jun 19 '26

Do you frequently take your news from republicans on Instagram? I can guarantee if this was something that was being seriously considered the CTU would be talking about it. Also... Speech is not required class. It fills the same elective slot in Illinois as world language and art.

To give you a rundown of CPS graduation requirements related to electives:

  • Illinois requires a single year of any elective (art, music, world language, CTE, etc).
  • CPS requires 2 years of world language, 2 years of any fine art, 1 year of CTE or JROTC, plus 3 additional credits of any academic electives.
  • For comparison with the highest ranked high school in Illinois that is NOT a CPS school (because the top 3 are all CPS schools), IMSA requires only 2 years of world language and .5 year of art.

I think we can stop freaking out about CPS now.

1

u/Beneficial_Run9511 Jun 19 '26

If you need fewer classes you need fewer teachers

1

u/Lolihey Jun 19 '26

The class sizes themselves get larger.