Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has turned his office into a platform for parenting children in his city, because the government knows what’s best for your family.

From The Chicago Tribune:

Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants Chicago public high school students to show they have a plan for what's next before they can get a diploma.

Emanuel's proposal would add one more big item to the graduation checklist for high school seniors: proof they've been accepted into college or the military, or a trade or a "gap-year" program. The requirement would also be satisfied if the student has a job or a job offer.

The point, the mayor said, is to get Chicago Public Schools students in all parts of the city to stop seeing high school graduation as an ending and get them to consider what's next.

"Just like you do with your children, college, post-high school, that is what's expected," Emanuel said at a Wednesday morning news conference. "If you change expectations, it's not hard for kids to adapt."

But even school officials believe this is a redundant proposal because every Chicago public high school graduate is already guaranteed acceptance into the City Colleges of Chicago system. 

The Tribune spoke with Maria Ferguson, an education expert out of Washington, D.C., who questioned the plan:

"I've been doing this for 20 years and I've never heard of anything like that. The question I would have for Mayor Emanuel is: 'Where did this come from? What informed your thinking to lead you to believe that this was a good plan of action for CPS?'"

Ferguson also questions the legality of such a requirement, as does Education Law and Policy Institute at Loyola University's School of Law Miranda Johnson.

"I think that raises questions when the requirements go beyond academic curriculum and extend into the student's post-secondary choices," Johnson said. "I think it also raises questions if those requirements are contingent on a third party's action that may go beyond the scope of what the student can control."

However, the proposal is expected to pass with a loyal,”Emanuel-controlled Chicago Board of Education,” as The Tribune described them, and would apply to the Class of 2020.

Remember, kids: