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Lawmaker wants to pay students for good grades | AP Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6309532.html - broken link)
FORT WORTH, Texas — Maybe some Texas high school students won't have to ask their parents to pay for good grades.
A state lawmaker filed a bill this week that would create a pilot program designed to pay cash to students at low-performing schools for good grades in core subjects.
Freshmen could earn $50 for each "A," $35 for each "B," and $20 for each "C" in English, math, science or social studies. They would get half their money at the end of each grading period and the other half at graduation. They would also receive college and career counseling through the program.
Funding for Republican Beaumont Rep. Joe Deshotel's bill would come from $6 billion in federal stimulus money the state is planning to use on education. Deshotel's office said the pilot program doesn't have an estimated cost yet.
"If it does help cut down the dropout rate, which is unacceptably high in Texas, then we can look at expanding it," Deshotel said in Friday's editions of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Schools rated academically unacceptable would be selected through a lottery to participate in the pilot.
Other pay-for-grades programs are in place in Chicago; Baltimore; New York; Tucson, Ariz.; and Washington, D.C.
There is no strong research to show the incentives work, and some research shows such incentives can lead students to underperform, said Barry Schwartz, a professor of psychology at Swarthmore College who has spoken out against paying students for grades.
"The downside to this is being ignored by those who support it, which is that once kids become accustomed to this, they become dependent," Schwartz said. "They'll want someone walking behind them the rest of their lives with an M&M to make sure they are rewarded for everything they do."
Chicag and Atlanta do this. I dont want to like it, but it is all private money. So who am I to say what they do with it?
I agree. We have never paid our kids for grades, we always told them it was their "job". There were battles, it seems so many parents use the report card to pay off big time. I imagine lower income students would find this an incentive, and as long as it doesn't cost the taxpayers,...why not?
That idea has been around for ages. Many parents do this so their kids get a early view of struggle and reward. I thnik now days it is sad that kids starting about ten eyars old can't get jobs like a newspaper route like in my generation. From the age of 10 I always had a part time job and in summers multiple jobs to earn money. I learned alot from those experiences.
That idea has been around for ages. Many parents do this so their kids get a early view of struggle and reward. I thnik now days it is sad that kids starting about ten eyars old can't get jobs like a newspaper route like in my generation. From the age of 10 I always had a part time job and in summers multiple jobs to earn money. I learned alot from those experiences.
You know you have a point here. Why not make school their "job"? Maybe not such a bad idea after all.
It might actually go to teaching responsibility instead of just making them even more spoiled and bratty.
What absolute rubbish, whats going to happen when all of a sudden funding is no longer an option when kids have become hooked on this idea? This does not cure the long term problems.
What absolute rubbish, whats going to happen when all of a sudden funding is no longer an option when kids have become hooked on this idea? This does not cure the long term problems.
I agree. It's pretty pathetic but I can see a good side to it as well.
Lawmaker wants to pay students for good grades | AP Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6309532.html - broken link)
FORT WORTH, Texas — Maybe some Texas high school students won't have to ask their parents to pay for good grades.
A state lawmaker filed a bill this week that would create a pilot program designed to pay cash to students at low-performing schools for good grades in core subjects.
Freshmen could earn $50 for each "A," $35 for each "B," and $20 for each "C" in English, math, science or social studies. They would get half their money at the end of each grading period and the other half at graduation. They would also receive college and career counseling through the program.
Funding for Republican Beaumont Rep. Joe Deshotel's bill would come from $6 billion in federal stimulus money the state is planning to use on education. Deshotel's office said the pilot program doesn't have an estimated cost yet.
"If it does help cut down the dropout rate, which is unacceptably high in Texas, then we can look at expanding it," Deshotel said in Friday's editions of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Schools rated academically unacceptable would be selected through a lottery to participate in the pilot.
Other pay-for-grades programs are in place in Chicago; Baltimore; New York; Tucson, Ariz.; and Washington, D.C.
There is no strong research to show the incentives work, and some research shows such incentives can lead students to underperform, said Barry Schwartz, a professor of psychology at Swarthmore College who has spoken out against paying students for grades.
"The downside to this is being ignored by those who support it, which is that once kids become accustomed to this, they become dependent," Schwartz said. "They'll want someone walking behind them the rest of their lives with an M&M to make sure they are rewarded for everything they do."
Lawmaker wants to pay students for good grades | AP Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6309532.html - broken link)
FORT WORTH, Texas — Maybe some Texas high school students won't have to ask their parents to pay for good grades.
A state lawmaker filed a bill this week that would create a pilot program designed to pay cash to students at low-performing schools for good grades in core subjects.
Freshmen could earn $50 for each "A," $35 for each "B," and $20 for each "C" in English, math, science or social studies. They would get half their money at the end of each grading period and the other half at graduation. They would also receive college and career counseling through the program.
Funding for Republican Beaumont Rep. Joe Deshotel's bill would come from $6 billion in federal stimulus money the state is planning to use on education. Deshotel's office said the pilot program doesn't have an estimated cost yet.
"If it does help cut down the dropout rate, which is unacceptably high in Texas, then we can look at expanding it," Deshotel said in Friday's editions of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Schools rated academically unacceptable would be selected through a lottery to participate in the pilot.
Other pay-for-grades programs are in place in Chicago; Baltimore; New York; Tucson, Ariz.; and Washington, D.C.
There is no strong research to show the incentives work, and some research shows such incentives can lead students to underperform, said Barry Schwartz, a professor of psychology at Swarthmore College who has spoken out against paying students for grades.
"The downside to this is being ignored by those who support it, which is that once kids become accustomed to this, they become dependent," Schwartz said. "They'll want someone walking behind them the rest of their lives with an M&M to make sure they are rewarded for everything they do."
Funny, they never get to the root of why "the drop out rate is unacceptably high". $50 over a whole year? What is that, about .02 cents an hour?
Gut the system and let kids earn some real money. Instead of wasting money on gimmicks, spend the money on roads, infrastructure, health care.
I pay my children for their grades. Measly pay- $3 for each A, $2 for each B and $1 for each C. Nothing for a D. I am actually thinking of raising it to $5 for an A and $4 for a B. And you know what...my oldest son (13) tells me that I shouldn't be paying him for his grades...that's his responsibility! Isn't that sweet? But......I know in the work field you work harder if you're either happy, or you work harder for the income. Most children aren't happy to be going to school....so I will make him want to do it for the money. Should they do it for themselves? Of course. That's why I'm not paying them $20 bucks or higher for each A.....because then it would be all about the money and not for the pride. This way, the money really isn't the full incentive because it's not a lot.....
I know parents disagree. That's why they're not parents of my child. To each his own. Whatever works. My 13 year old has had one C in his whole life, and I shouldn't even count it because it was the first semester of moving into a new state, and he had to get adjusted to a new curriculum. My 8 year old son has never had a C yet.
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