Chicago schools offer students $50 for each A

Armueller2001 · #1 10-28-2008, 12:10 AM

Wow... this is just amazing to me... I don't live in Chicago and my blood is boiling. If I were a taxpayer there I would be irate. Sweet, now the kids can go buy crack rocks for getting C's.

Incentives for getting good grades and graduating high school? How about NOT WORKING AT MCDONALDS the rest of your life!! WHAT THE HELL!!!!!

Quote:

CPS students earn green for grades
Duncan, Fryer hand out first reward checks to freshmen at Manley High School.

Students at 20 Chicago public high schools received their first rewards checks for participating in “The Paper Project,” a CPS Green for Grades initiative that offers 3,200 students the opportunity to earn up to $4,000 each by achieving good grades. CPS students have earned more than $260,000 in the first five weeks of the school year, including rewards for more than 4,200 “A” grades.

CPS Chief Executive Officer Arne Duncan and Dr. Roland Fryer, Harvard University economics professor and developer of the incentive program, presented 150 students at Manley High School with the $24,000 earned during the first five-week academic progress period. Manley has the highest percentage of participants receiving rewards, at 86 percent.

“We want to see every CPS high school student make the right choices early on and stay on track for graduation,” Duncan said. “The Paper Project offers our students clear academic goals and compelling incentives to help them reach those goals, which are absolutely critical to their future.”

The Paper Project, created by the Education Innovation Laboratory at Harvard University (EdLabs), aims to develop student interest in school and a commitment to reaching academic goals during the first two years of high school, when students are most at risk for dropping out. It will be the second Green for Grades financial-incentive program within CPS and will be one of several programs across the country that EdLabs at Harvard University has helped to design and will evaluate as part of ongoing research on innovative new programs in education.

“Students in Chicago and around the nation are exposed to many negative influences that can lead them away from school and away from their best chance for success,” Fryer said. “We must be willing to try new options and new strategies in order to keep students invested in their own education and success.”

Eligible students in The Paper Project can earn financial rewards for performance in five core classes: math, English, social science, science, and physical education. Students can earn $50 for each “A” they receive, $35 for a “B,” and $20 for any “C” earned during each five-week progress report period. A “straight-A” student has the potential to earn up to $4,000 over two years. Students will receive half of their earnings every five weeks during the freshman and sophomore years and receive the balance of their earnings upon graduation from high school.
About CPS

The Chicago Public Schools is the nation’s third largest school system. It includes more than 650 schools and serves about 405,000 students.

http://www.cps.edu/News/Press_releas..._2008_PR1.aspx

Linas · #2 10-28-2008, 12:15 AM

Absurd!! We probably have the worst public school system in the country. Needs reform so bad.

steve21 · #3 10-28-2008, 12:16 AM

man, I would have made ****ing bank.

warwick.hoy · #4 10-28-2008, 12:27 AM

I'd be p*ss*d cause I ain't even got no kids. <=(my fine private school education coming out right there)

whoatherechunk · #5 10-28-2008, 01:57 AM

hahaha. i've pretty much have had an A in every class i've ever taken.

dancehallclasher · #6 10-28-2008, 02:24 AM

It's not the worst idea ever. A big cause of high school kids getting lousy grades is because they devote a lot of time to after-school jobs when they should be studying because they value money more than grades.

Yes, it's true that better grades = more money LATER but if they don't fully understand it we can't really hold that against them. I mean, their supposed lack of decision-making skills is why they're not allowed to vote and we're not allowed to have sex with 'em.

I do think offering any money for a C is ridiculous though. It's really not that hard to get an A in a basic high school course.

tplyons · #7 10-28-2008, 10:34 AM

So a straight A student can average $50 a week? Screw after school jobs, bring on the homework!

I would've graduated with a 4.0 instead of a 2.23.

fenderx55 · #8 10-28-2008, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tplyons

So a straight A student can average $50 a week? Screw after school jobs, bring on the homework!

I would've graduated with a 4.0 instead of a 2.23.

+1

Croox · #9 10-28-2008, 10:38 AM

If this was in place back when i was in high school i would have had a 4.0 instead of the 1.9 i graduated with

Its a great idea, BUT I dont like paying for it.

DudeistMonk · #10 10-28-2008, 10:39 AM

hell its no bigger waste than the rest of the stuff schools spend their budget money on....like huge salaries for superintendents, coupled with retirement plans that rob the state of millions.

Besides the youthful spending stimulates the economy.

...and I'm sure they raised the prices of school lunch by like 400%.

L-A · #11 10-28-2008, 10:53 AM

Yes. Let's make students put school and work side to side and see if they choose the least paying of the two.

ThatGermanDude · #12 10-28-2008, 10:59 AM

Man, I wish they had that at my school when I was in High School

It sure beats the 2 Euros I got from my parents in elementary school.

standupright · #13 10-28-2008, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DudeistMonk

hell its no bigger waste than the rest of the stuff schools spend their budget money on....like huge salaries for superintendents, coupled with retirement plans that rob the state of millions.

Besides the youthful spending stimulates the economy.

...and I'm sure they raised the prices of school lunch by like 400%.

what's your source of information on this? teachers' retirement robs the state of millions?

Visirale · #14 10-28-2008, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by standupright

what's your source of information on this? teachers' retirement robs the state of millions?

Uhh my Mom is a Guidance Counselor. Her retirement package is something like 60% of the average of her 5 highest annual salaries a year until she dies. It's a LOT of money.

With that being said, I don't think retirement packages for teachers is a waste at all. We don't pay our teachers enough as it is, and we need to attract new teachers into the system... cutting retirement won't do that.

I think the original idea. is good. My parents did something like that with me. I'm sure I would have done well regardless, but the cash gave me more incentive to do my best. I graduated with a 4.3, which also helped me get a ton of scholarships in college... Getting students more excited about school via cash will also help them in the long run.

baalroo · #15 10-28-2008, 11:38 AM

What's the difference between "We want to spend an extra $24,000 on kids to try and convince them to achieve in school" as compared to "We want to spend an extra $24,000 on programs that will attempt to convince kids in achieving in school?" The first choice just removes the middle-man.

At first I was appalled at the idea, but the more I thought about it the more it makes a lot of "real world" sense.

DudeistMonk · #16 10-28-2008, 11:42 AM

Quote:

what's your source of information on this? teachers' retirement robs the state of millions?

New Jersey 101.5

Talk radio, there was a scandal of sorts where superintendents in NJ where making so much money in retirement (6 figure retirement salaries) that it was costing the state millions.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/200...ts_due_si.html

Visirale · #17 10-28-2008, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DudeistMonk

New Jersey 101.5

Talk radio, there was a scandal of sorts where superintendents in NJ where making so much money in retirement (6 figure retirement salaries) that it was costing the state millions.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/200...ts_due_si.html

Are you familiar with government retirement packages? They're all like that. If a job gets paid 6 figures regularly (superintendents around here make $150-300k a year, which I believe they deserve) then of course their retirement packages are going to be up there. If you take it away from teachers, you'll have to take it away from all government workers. Retirement is NOT a waste. These people work for far less than what they're worth (almost any teacher could go sell their soul to the business world and make a ton more) doing a job that is one of the most important out there. I dare you to touch their retirement and see the repercussions on the country.

RedemptionBass · #18 10-28-2008, 12:48 PM

Things are amazingly stupid here in Illinois. If I were you, I'd never vote for anyone that came from here.

Deluge Of Sound · #19 10-28-2008, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedemptionBass

Things are amazingly stupid here in Illinois. If I were you, I'd never vote for anyone that came from here.

Oooh, subtle political commentary. Very nice, very nice *golf clap*

Croox · #20 10-28-2008, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedemptionBass

Things are amazingly stupid here in Illinois. If I were you, I'd never vote for anyone that came from here.

+1