This story was on Good Morning America yesterday. Chicago rolled out a graduation incentive program for students attending public school. The money comes from donors and foundations NOT taxpayers. Students "earn" $50 for an A, $35 for a B and $20 for a C. Half of the money is given up front while the other half is given after the student graduates. Washington DC has also implemented a similar program. Is this "bribery"? What kind of message does this give the students? What's your opinion???
---Judy
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Wednesday, December 3, 2008
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4 comments:
I believe in helping and encouraging kids when it comes to education. I also believe in setting expectations. Since the program does not use taxpayer money, upon the successful completion of each grade, I would give the student a small percentage (25%) of the money earned. The remainder would be placed in an interest bearing account and used for college or trade school. If the student chose NOT to further their education upon graduation, the money would be rolled back into the program !!
I like what jzd wrote - the idea of placing a portion of the money into college fund and if it wasn't used, rolling back into program.
I would worry that children would be under pressure to get good grades to hand the money over to parents.
Also, there was an interesting article on the rise of kids cheating in school. It is up from 2006. In 2007, 64% of kids polled said they cheated in the past year and 38% said they cheated 2 or more times in the past year. That is concerning. The article was targeting high school kids - but we've seen in it in the lower schools too. I think kids are under a great deal of pressure.
Here is the article on cheating if anyone wants it:
http://news.aol.com/article/survey-finds-more-kids-cheat-in-school/263396
I haven't given this a great deal of thought, but my initial reaction is that schools paying kids to make good grades is just another example of the government taking the place of parents. The parents are either too busy or unable or do not care enough to make sure their kids are successful in school; therefore, the government is trying to do it (via payments).
My gut reaction is that I don't like the idea, but then I think about those kids who don't have adequate parental support, and I start to think that maybe this will help to motivate the kids so that they will get a good education. But then again, I agree with the previous post that the parents might use the opportunity to take the money form the kids, which would be a horrible situation. If parents would just do their jobs and be parents, then the schools/government wouldn't feel the need to be surrogate parents (paying kids for grades, feeding them 3 meals a day, providing before/after school care, teaching them how to use condoms!, etc.). In some cases, the schools have become more like parents than the parents themselves, which is completely unhinged!
I like jzd's addition to the program, and I hope there is a clause that enforces complete forfeiture of any and/or money earned if a student is found cheating.
I think that there are some of us for whom school is a pleasure, good grades come easily, and guaranteed success is and will be its own reward, and there are others who can work very hard and not achieve recognized academic success. While the same can be said with any God-given talent (i.e. sports, dance, music, etc.) we all HAVE to attend school, while most other competetive endeavors are optional. I used to find the idea of paying for grades objectionable, but becoming a parent of a child who is capable of achieving good grades, but not easily or effortlessly, I've come to believe that it's OK to reward good effort & hard work in a way that means something to a child (whether that's cash or something else that they value...a letter on a report card is just not that much of a thrill for this kid!) I also make sure that my child knows that the "effort" grade is the one most important to me, and I think that should get a "bonus" in any program!
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