#OtherRahmRequirements Is Here To Hilariously Humiliate The Mayor's Education Plan

By Stephen Gossett in News on Apr 6, 2017 4:10PM

Getty Images / Photo: Scott Olson

If you somehow missed it, Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday dropped a major education initiative, one that would burden Chicago Public School students with a new graduation requirement. Under the plan, Chicago public high school students would have to receive a letter of acceptance from either a college, military service, job program or an employment offer in order to graduate from high school.

No surprise, the proposal was swiftly and summarily excoriated. Education-law experts called it "ridiculous" and "not grounded in reality." Martin Ritter, of the Chicago Teachers Union, said the plan would necessitate 500 more high-school counselors for the already cash-strapped district. Educators shared eloquent, on-the-ground reflections about the plan's misaligned, cart-before-the-horse priorities. The move isn't quite as restrictive as perhaps it first seemed, but the bungled rollout and still-lingering lack of finer details left a lot to be desired.

The heat is still cranked up, but the backlash on Thursday also took on a glorious, hilarious, and oh-so-Chicago tone of mocking condescension. Kickstarted by Chicago writer Chris Thilk and spread through local media Twitter and now well beyond, people on Thursday started sharing other potential prerequisites that a despotically inclined city official might just mandate, using the hashtag #OtherRahmRequirements. Sample the spectacular snark below and take a minute to pitch your own. 'Cause this kind of flip-the-bird-in-the-face-of-the-abyss instinct is one of the things that make us love this city so.

If we may humbly put forth: Must be able to name five Blackhawks players between the Roenick and Toews eras. #OtherRahmRequirements