The D.C. Council is set to take up a bill introduced by Council Chairman Kwame Brown (D) to require all city high schools students to take college admission tests and apply to at least one college, vocational or trade school, even if they don’t intend to continuing education beyond the 12th grade.

The bill would require all students in D.C. public schools, including charter schools, to take the SAT or ACT exam before graduating from high school. The measure would give the District one of the most stringent graduation requirements in the country.

“I’m not saying everyone should go to college, but my goodness, we have to get more young folks prepared to go to college if they want to go to college,” Brown told The Washington Post.

The council chairman is looking to provide an extra push for students in a public school system that, according to some estimates, has a graduation rate of just 43 percent. The measure also requires workshops that lay out options and requirements for students.

“As an administrator of higher education programs, I have encountered first-year students (many from D.C.) who come to college unprepared, i.e. poor test scores, poor writing and math skills, poor planning, and poor selection of the college or degree program that suits their interests, skills and abilities. This results in students who are unable to successfully complete their first year of college and are unlikely to progress to the second year,” Sondra Gaines, a visiting professor completing research at North Carolina A&T University, told The AFRO. “The bill is not necessarily the answer to many of the obstacles that some of the students encounter. It may, however, provide an opportunity for students and their families to seriously think about their futures prior to attending college. They may choose more wisely if they have considered all their options,” …. Gaines said. “This bill could actually empower D.C. students,”

Critics say the bill, intended to encourage student ambition, is simply unrealistic.

“I recognize that this is a good-faith effort to move forward, but I think it would be better to focus on what is actually under control of the high school,” Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admission Officers, told The Post. “What good does it do for them to require students to ritualistically apply to college?”