What if you could combine a four year high school diploma with
a two year college degree? What if you could get a major US corporation to guarantee
a good paying job to every student who successfully completes such a program?
What you would get is Chicago’s Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy. This program is jointly
sponsored and funded by the Chicago Public Schools and IBM Corporation. The Goode
Academy is located in a low- income area of Chicago and provides a unique opportunity
for student to achieve a high school diploma plus an Associate’s Degree in
technology. This program is a prototype for additional schools with the help
of IBM, Microsoft, Verizon, and Motorola Solutions. These corporations will
develop curricula, summer internships and guarantee interviews for all program
graduates. Presently there is only a 25% completion rate for two year college
programs. The goal is to get students not only to stay in high school and graduate
but to continue their education and obtain the skills necessary to compete in the
high tech 21st century job market.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel stated “They (the corporations)
have a shortage of workers. We have a student population ready to fill those
jobs if they have the educational opportunity to do it.”
The additional high schools to be added to the program will
bring in a freshman class in the fall of over 1000 students. Several of the schools
will operate as neighborhood school not taking outside student enrollments. One of
the schools will be a magnet school with an admissions process.
Chicago is not the only city to experiment with the six year
high school alternative. Programs are also being developed in New York City. I
suspect that if such programs are successful, other cities with join in.
c.2014 J. Margolis.
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