Chicago kids to be paid for grades
Categories: Teens & tweens, Money & work, Education
Would you have studied harder if you knew there was cold hard cash on the line? That's the hope of adminstrators in Chicago where they are implementing a plan designed at Harvard wherein kids will get fifty dollars for an A, thirty-five for a B, and twenty bucks for a C. They get half up front and half when they graduate. Students can earn as much as four thousand dollars over the course of the first two years of high school.Rewarding good grades is nothing new, of course. Usually, however, those rewards come from the parents. "The majority of our students don't come from families with a lot of economic wealth. I'm always trying to level the playing field," said schools chief executive Arne Duncan. "This is the kind of incentive that middle-class families have had for decades."
Not everyone thinks it's a good idea, though. "It's a terrible idea, because you're getting people to do things for the wrong reasons," said Swarthmore College psychology professor Barry Schwartz. "They'll do well in school, maybe, but they won't take any of it out with them. Instead of trying to cultivate an interest in learning, curiosity . . . you are just turning this into another job."
I too think learning is its own reward, but I also know that wasn't necessarily the attitude I had when I was in school. If this program can get kids to study and stay in school when they would otherwise do poorly and possibly drop out, then perhaps it's worth a try.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SKL 9-13-2008 @ 4:22PM
I don't like it. First of all, it switches a long-term goal for a short-term one. Secondly, it places more importance on the grade than on learning. Will it encourage cheating, or even bullying teachers? We know both happen regularly, so it's not unthinkable that a monetary incentive would just increase these negative behaviors. Meanwhile, don't forget this is taxpayer money, being taken away from other, better uses.
Kids need to learn how to think about their future. Giving them an immediate reward for pursuing what ought to be a lifelong goal is counterproductive.
It makes more sense to provide a college scholarship, and if the kids are too shortsighted to see the value in that, focus on programs that motivate them to think about their future.
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Miranda 9-13-2008 @ 5:07PM
I actually dont think this is a horrible idea. I was a 4.0 student w/o any help from my parents for college, and for the first couple of years, didnt qualify for financial aid because my $23,000 a year job was too much. This will give kids the chance to earn their own money for college. What may be better would be, instead of giving them any money up front, all money is made available when they graduate, in the form of a check to their school of choice. Then they are getting the good grades for the right reason, to further their education.
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Mihir 9-14-2008 @ 1:46AM
$20 for a C? so we're paying kids to be average now? nothing wrong with being average, but is average work going to get you anywhere? will they be able to go into a bosses office and say, "Hey I'm an average worker, give me a raise"? I say, $20 for an A and that's it. at least give them something to strive for.
i'm in agreement that if they will be doing the program anyway, the money should be made available to them when they graduate in the form of a check made to a college, junior college, vocational school or something like that.
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SKL 9-14-2008 @ 8:42AM
I was thinking the same thing about a "C." Most kids don't even have to study to get a "C." Sounds like just a transfer payment to me: another reward for doing nothing, funded by people who are doing something.
Jamie 9-14-2008 @ 9:26AM
I think it is a great idea. Without the students having an academic interest, there will likely be challenges for the school to meet the NCLB standards. Why not give those kids a kick back. What reason does a kid have to pass a test? Do you think these children would feel guilty if their ability to pass/fail a test would change the schools funding? To a kid $20 is a LOT of money. To an adult, it barely pays for a gallon of gas (LOL). I give the idea two thumbs up! Hopefully it will raise academic interest and learning.
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Antonio 9-14-2008 @ 1:03PM
This is stupid. What happens when they go off to college? The average kid in the U.S. is a C student. It is only strain on taxpayers. Chicagostan's taxes are too high already. If a kid steals $20 from a kid, he gets in big trouble, but when a kid makes a C which is terrible in my view, he makes $20. All you unemployed adults, go to school and make C's and you'll be rich :)
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Sheila 12-08-2008 @ 11:43PM
This isn't being paid for by taxes, it's being paid for by a study being done by Harvard University. While I think the monetray rewards are a bit high it definately helps to level the playing field some, as well as possibly lower the incidence of kds sellig drugs to put food on their tables.
LS 9-14-2008 @ 5:06PM
Given the situation in Chicago, poor neighborhoods and a high crime rate, nobody thinks that any of the teachers might be coerced into giving out good grades so the kids can just walk with the money?
And conversely, what about the teacher who has a kid that she knows is extremely poor, but isn't doing very well. Is that teacher going to go, "oh, gee, that $50 will REALLY help that family, so I'll just give it to him"?
This is a ridiculous program.
I can *almost* get behind it IF it's run the way Miranda said - that the money goes toward a final lump sum that is then paid to the next school they attend.
But I still think that public education, and Chicago Public Schools in particular, need to take a real close look at where their money is already going, and make a LOT of changes, before they start throwing cash around like this.
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