Earn an A? Here's $50!

www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-money-for-grades-11-sep11,0,7506945.story


Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan says the time has come to pay students for getting good grades. Under a program starting this year, in 20 of the 65 Chicago Public Schools that applied for the program, straight A’s can translate into a payment of $4,000 and straight C’s can yield kids $1,600 (“Chicago Schools Paying for Good Grades” - http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-goodgradespayoff,0,4855654.story ). The money is earned in increments of $50 for an A, $35 for each B, and $20 for each C in English, math, science, social science, and physical education. It is paid in five-week reporting periods. Qualifying students will get only half their earnings up front – they must graduate to get the other half.

While critics say the program bribes children, others say it is intended to discourage failure and to encourage students to stay in school and graduate. According to another article in the Washington Post, entitled “Pay Up; He Got an ‘A’” (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/parenting/2008/09/pay_up_he_got_an_a.html), a similar program is already instituted in Washington, D.C. district public schools. Middle school students receive up to $100 every two weeks for attendance, behavior, and academic achievement. Some schools even pay out according to participation and adherence to the uniform policy. Similar programs have already run for over a year in new York, Arizona, Texas, Virginia, and Baltimore.

Should schools really be paying our kids for grades?

One voice of reason comes from Julie (http://www.topix.com/forum/source/chicago-tribune/TKER3LVL1Q6DRNC32) who states that we “are in a sad state when kids are more motivated by $2000 than the millions of dollars less they are destined to make over a lifetime if they don’t get a high school education.” She says the program teaches kids to be materialistic and to focus on instant gratification rather than the big picture. Also, with the poverty level in Chicago, parents will be placing undue pressure on their kids to get more money. Isn’t the purpose of education to learn, not earn wages?

A different view comes from BLH (http://www.topix.com/forum/source/chicago-tribune/TKER3LVL1Q6DRNC32). BLH claims that higher income families and even some middle class families reward their kids with cars, cell phones, and cash already. Just because students are receiving money for their grades does not necessarily mean they aren’t retaining the knowledge. Some students just need a short-term goal to incent them for the long run.

Where do I stand on the matter?

As a taxpayer, the issue does not really affect me. Chicago Public Schools are using private money – NOT taxpayer dollars.

As a parent, I can see both positives and negatives. My child might be more enthusiastic to go to school, to have better behavior, and to try harder. However, I feel this program is teaching children the wrong message. They are doing something just to get money – not to benefit themselves. Students should realize that they need good grades to earn more money in the long run. As Julie put it, shouldn’t the incentive to NOT work at McDonald’s for the rest of your life inspire you to do better in school?

As a future teacher, I can see where the program is coming from. To inspire children to do better in school and behave better in school is an excellent idea. However, I don’t think paying them to do it is the best idea. “During the first two years of high school, students are at most risk of dropping out, which is why the district's program covers students through the end of sophomore year.” I think it is great idea to try and keep students interested in school to lower the freshman/sophomore drop-out rates. However, instead of trying to get children interested in and enthusiastic about the lesson, students will just be thinking about the next check they get. They need to do well for themselves, not for a paycheck. They have the rest of their lives to work!

The sad reality of the situation is that many students don’t care about doing well for themselves. Many don’t care if they drop out of school or fail over half of their classes. Maybe in this case, money is the only thing to keep them interested in school. Where do we draw the line? Paying students for grades, behavior, adherence to the uniform code, attendance, etc. is insane! There are millions of students that do all of this with nothing expected in return. How do we inspire the rest of our students the way these students have already been inspired? That is the real question, not “How much should we pay for 2 A's, 3 B's, and 2 C's?”