Eight of 10 public high school juniors in Illinois weren’t considered ready for college classes in all subjects based on ACT testing last spring — and many students missed the mark even at posh suburban Chicago schools that graduate some of the state’s brightest kids.
At Lake Forest, Deerfield, Northbrook and Hinsdale high schools, more than 40 percent of students didn’t meet all four “college readiness benchmarks” — ACT scores indicating they could do at least average in key freshman classes.
In Lincolnshire and Naperville, more than half of juniors scored too low to reach the targets in English, reading, science and math, though several hundred met three of four benchmarks, usually missing in science.
This is just proof of the epic failure of the State’s educational system. Even the best schools are not fully preparing our students for the future. Students at the poorest schools don’t have any chance.
Surely not every student needs to go to college. There is nothing wrong with walking right over the union hall and signing up to become an electrician, plumber, crane operator, etc. But the mission of high school should be to give all student the chance. It is the opportunity being denied to generations of Illinois students.
It’s time to say that we’ve had enough.