Giving Students Cash for Grades
Programs in Washington, D.C., and Chicago offer students financial rewards for class work
In Washington, the graduation rate is "extraordinarily low," says schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, and drops as low as 30 percent in some schools. Research and data show that middle school is the time when students rate education's importance in their lives and often crystallize their plans to drop out once they reach high school. For this reason, Rhee requested that D.C.'s incentive program target the 3,700 middle school students in 14 middle schools, where it has been in operation since September.
Rhee says students she has spoken with directly seem enthusiastic about Capital Gains, adding that she has heard the same of students in the District's high-need schools. Students can earn up to $100 every two weeks for academic success, controlling their behavior in class, and arriving to class on time among other achievements. Though Rhee says she understands critics who dislike the concept of paying students to do what they should already be doing in school, she says she has not heard such criticism from a single parent of a child participating in the program.
Rhee hopes Capital Gains will get middle school students excited about succeeding academically in high school and even in college, but she understands why these students have a hard time imagining that hard work now will pay off later. "Many of these kids do not have access to adults who have graduated from college, and they don't necessarily understand the value of education," Rhee says. "Expecting students to do well in middle school is asking them to make a calculation on skills that will help them graduate from high school and succeed in college, ideas that to them are foreign and very far away."
Though they are not the norm, Rhee says she has encountered some sixth-grade Capital Gains participants who have held back urges to spend their money on clothes or cellphone accessories. These students, Rhee says, are already saving their earnings for college.
Reader Comments
Cash for Grades
I believe children should not be paid because of good grades and good behavior because children should always try their best and act in a formal manner as a given. That isn't too much to ask of students of The United States. It isn't fair either,some states don't pay children like in Texas for instance. Trust me I would know,I live there. If kids discover that they are only being paid to stay in school and pass tests, they might not succeed in a situation because they don't have a teacher behind them breathing down their necks and paying money every time they do something good. In class I am having a debate about this topic and wish that all hear my thoughts and opinions.
Cash for grades
i believe this is a good update because if we get good grades, [it would be added to taxes, 150$ a month maybe] we could give our parents the money we earned, we'd make some money, or parents wouldn't be affected, and people who don't have children would be supporting children
cash for grades
I am a volunteer business partner with an elementary school in Harlem, New York.
The economic challenges faced by the parents of the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders attending my school are great. Similarly, the shortage of resources they have available, from finances to having time to spend with their children's studies, are apparent. In correlation, the concerns many of the kids have are very adult in nature, such as will I be able to afford to go to college to how their family is going to pay this month's gas bill.
It's important to note, that the majority of my kid;s parents are no less committed to their children'' success than parents of children in private school. Everyone needs positive reinforcement.
The children I'm working with are the most loving, intelligent and gracious people I've ever met. They are very in-tune to their parent's finances, and the majority of them would leap for an opportunity to help their parents.
In my opinion, any child who desires to actively take part in their family's financial well being and is willing to get better grades to do it, is an extraordinary human being.
Thank you Mr. Fryer for creating such an exemplary program.
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