To the Editor:

Everyone wants their family to have a great and brilliant future. How would you feel if you knew that you are sending your students to get an education but instead they are getting the bare minimum?

Education is power and a key to student success. Waukegan High School’s graduation requirements include four credits of English, three credits of mathematics, two credits of science, one credit of either career and technical education, fine arts or a world language, and last but not least, four enrollments of physical education, including a 0.5 credit of a health class that students aren’t required to pass for a total of 17 credits in order to graduate.

Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep’s graduation requirements include 28 credits. Four credits of English, four credits of math, three credits of science, three credits of social studies, two credits of world languages, one credit of physical education/health, one credit of theology for each year in attendance, one credit of corporate work study for each year in attendance and five credits of electives. This is a huge, incompatible difference to Waukegan High School.

Stevenson High School’s graduation requirements include eight semesters/credits of English, six semesters/credits of mathematics, two semesters/credits of biology, two semesters/credits of physical science, two semesters/credits of U.S. history, two semesters/credits of world history, one semester/credit of geography government, one semester/credit of economics or personal finance, one semester/credit of health, one semester/credit of driver education, two semesters/credits of required electives and 17 semesters/credits of additional credits and P.E. That’s a grand total of 45 credits in order to graduate (similar to 23 credits at WHS).

As a Waukegan High School student, I feel disappointed to know that Waukegan students aren’t getting prepared for life the way other schools are. We are instead getting the bare minimum. It is sad to know that we are not getting what we deserve as human beings and as the future generation “destined to change the world.”

Waukegan students’ families may be asking what is the cause of this? As a student, I suggest it is not the fault of the students or the teachers. It’s the people deciding “what’s best for us” by choosing that our high school credits should drop from 23 to 17. By doing this they are allowing unprepared teens who think they might know it all go into the world without enough knowledge of what is to come for them as adults. Some may argue that more Waukegan High School students will graduate if fewer credits are required. But let me tell you that with 17 credits, we are not remotely close to being prepared for the reality of this world!

Maria Martinez Ulloa

Waukegan