Cash for Grades
Education opens many doors.
But should the main one be at the bank?
School districts throughout the country are increasingly paying students for coming to class, taking tests, and improving their scores as part of controversial incentive programs known as “cash for grades.”
In Baltimore, high school students who make the grade can make some money—up to $110 for raising their scores on state assessment tests.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, passing students can turn a school day into pay day, earning $300 if they attend 90% of their classes for the year.
And near Atlanta, eighth and eleventh graders who take part in a special after-school study program are paid $8 an hour—more than the
minimum wage in most states.
Supporters of earning while learning point to increased attendance and higher test scores at underperforming schools where no other form of educational motivation has worked. “We’re in competition with the streets,” said one Bronx junior high school principal of her students. “They can go out there and make $50 illegally any day of the week. We have to do something to compete with that.”
But critics of the programs—many of which are privately funded—say the payments are simply bribes, and that using money as a motivator sends the wrong message to kids about their responsibility to learn.
Would George Washington Carver have come up with his inventions in horticulture if someone had “bribed him?” asked one critic. Would Marie Curie have been inspired to spend long hours in the lab? “What kind of message do we give unmotivated kids,” he wondered, “when we give them something they never earned?”
Tell us what you think: Should schools pay students to learn? Is learning all the way to the bank responsible?
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this is bad
who is going to pay for this money? are you going to pay with your own money? they might just take it out of your paycheck haha don’t do it this is a bad students cheat more then ever.
ben tomas | 6 months ago
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interesting statements
There are several inconsistencies to start off with, first paying a scientist for their work is not a bribe. that’s the major problem in tis, the two are not the same.
Now the problem i have with this is not what you would think. Paying someone to just show up to class is pretty insulting. Paying for A’s I’m not sure i have as much a problem with. We certainly pay people for results here in regular jobs and when i was young i was payed for As, just As however.
Personally it might be better to use something else rather than straight off cash. How about credits to go towards paying for college when they graduate? or credits to use at a bookstore? but for success not just showing up. As Net you X amount of credits Bs net you half the credits of A’s and nothing for anything else.
Sinjun | 5 months, 3 weeks ago
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Find the line between rewards and bribery
I am a junior in high school, and I believe students shouldn’t be paid to make good grades. I maintain good grades, and my eighth grade sister makes all a’s; we are not paid to work hard. When students are paid, their motive for good grades is altered, and they are worki9ng hard for the wrong reason. Rewarding a student is fine, to a certain extent. parents and teachers need to know when to draw the line, and recognize the difference between motivation, and bribery. Rewarding a student creates expectations, and many start doing things for benefits. Tasks are completed for money and rewards. This then may hurt an indivual simply because many bosses, don’t reward you for doing your job. College professors don’t reward you for passing your test. parents and teachers need to explain to students that things need to get done, because that is just how it is, you don’t need to get rewards for everythign you do. Success is the greatest reward onew can obtain.
Toiya Ghant | 5 months, 2 weeks ago
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School is a job, too: Why NOT get paid?
From early on, my parents were fond of reminding me that “school is your #1 priority, and your only job.” This firm statement, and the strong parental supervision that accompanied it, served to focus my efforts in school and motivated me to place my learning before play. However, the real truth behind my ability to succeed in school was a strong family unit and parental presence.
The times have changed. Although many students have the ability and desire to do well in their studies, others, who are disadvantaged by corruptive influences in their personal lives or by a lack of parental involvement, may not. With so many parents struggling to support families (and many 1-parent families who experience absenteeism of the parent and a smaller income), we see children who look to find ways to take care of their own material needs and often, those of their parents. Why NOT pay them? Like any job, school demands 8+ hours of attention every weekday and like any job, punishes those who do not perform with consequences. However, unlike a job, where the employee can at least expect material compensation for his efforts, the student is asked to defer compensation for years; and that promised compensation may not reflect the many hours of work put in on schoolwork. Will cash for grades corrupt the pure goal of learning for the sake of knowledge? No – and in the process of earning that cash, students may very well increase their abilities to study and apply knowledge.
Teresa Hanson | 5 months, 1 week ago
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i agree
I have to agree with you because people in public or private schools were never paid to go to school it should be a privilege to learn and go to school because people in other countries cant get education or go to schools it would be a privilege to get a education without getting paid.
johnny appleseed | 5 months ago
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my comments
If we pay students to go to school or make good grades they would not be learning because they would be learning for the wrong reason.It would most likely not work for small schools because it would deduct the teachers pay.Students would want more then they need.If we do this then where would we get the money?Basically this will take a long time before it happens,if it does,because it would raise the taxes that we pay because we cant take the money from the school.
The Mexican Hat Dance/corn bread | 5 months ago
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hi
to the Mexican Hat Dance/corn bread people i think you are the best especially that kelsie girl she is the bomb and dont forget it
bobsayshi | 5 months ago
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Why Should Students Get Paid
why should students get paid for going to school,for getting good grades?Because they should get good grades anyway!!!!Their parents pay for them to go to school.So why pay the students?Why doesn’t the school just keep the money they use it on school stuff anyway.
Shakira Tart,Lulu Rain,Jacklynn Lanes | 5 months ago
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OPAH LOPA DOOPA DE dope
i think that it is a good incentive to pay kids a smidge of money but with the way things are going now the last thing we need is more taxes and if we are taxed to death who is gonna fund this?? The money angel? i think that they should cut back and have rewards like free lunch or something
slypher antionio anthony rodriguez gonzalez | 5 months ago
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why not!?!?!?
Paying students for achievment may sound a bit far-fetched and unfair, however, as member of this society, we must be honest with ourselves. Kids are not the same as they were in the past. Therefore, the tools we use to educate them must also change.
As an educator, it’s becoming more and more difficult to engage students in what they NEED to learn. I think we all should take a paradigm shift and take on a “by any means necessary” mantra. We need to do whatever needs to be done to educate our kids. WHY? Our future lies in their hands.
So, in my opinion, if throwin these students a little cash will give them a reason to want to sit down, study, and learn what they NEED to learn in order to be successful in this world, SO BE IT!
Now, do I think this will work for the masses? No, but I do believe money will push SOME kids to do better. If we can save a couple from failure, I’m all for it!!!
A. Mason | 4 months ago
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