D.C. paying kids to attend summer school

[Exterous]

Seeing as how the Harvard $100 for improving grade experiment didn't really do much I don't see this helping all that much either.

What if they demand a raise to do well in school? Unionized student body?

The District is paying 305 students with poor academic and behavioral records to attend summer school, The Washington Examiner has learned.

The rising ninth-graders are earning $5.25 an hour to participate in the "Summer Bridge" program, which targets students identified by D.C. Public Schools as less likely than their peers to graduate high school within four years.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/d.c.-students-being-paid-for-summer-school/article/2503405

 

[EagleKeeper]

Students in Quebec are unionized.

See how well it worked for them when the tutition in Quebec was raised a little - well below market price.

 

[spacejamz]

Michael Bolton: That's the worst idea I've ever heard in my life, Tom.
Samir: Yes, this is horrible, this idea.

 

[mect]

Might be cheaper than paying for the criminal activities of irresponsible kids with nothing to do.

 

[bfdd]

I think economic incentive is a good thing.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

They'd make way more money selling drugs. Then again, they've already shown they aren't great at math, so maybe they won't make that simple economic connection.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

I think economic incentive is a good thing.

paying kids to do what they should be doing?
riiight...

 

[nehalem256]

They'd make way more money selling drugs. Then again, they've already shown they aren't great at math, so maybe they won't make that simple economic connection.

Actually I thought that the Author of freakonomics showed that the average street seller made around minimum wage.

 

[bfdd]

paying kids to do what they should be doing?
riiight...

Kids aren't fucking slaves for you to indoctrinate. They are citizens too and should be treated as such.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Actually I thought that the Author of freakonomics showed that the average street seller made around minimum wage.

That's $2 more per hour than these kids are getting to go to school. Assuming full-time working statistics, that's around $4,000 per year. That's a pretty sizeable chunk of money.

 

[Exterous]

Might be cheaper than paying for the criminal activities of irresponsible kids with nothing to do.

I wonder how long the days are and for how long the program runs. It will cost $1601 per hour to do this so if you do it for 6 hours over a 5 day week thats $48,037

 

[ichy]

The bigotry of low expectations.

Of course, in DC the low expectations are almost 100% justified.

 

[theevilsharpie]

I only skimmed the article (I'll have to read it later), so I may be off base on my post.

I support paying students to progress through school, as it provides a strong incentive for students to attend and complete school, and ultimately become a productive member of society. That said, I'm not sure if paying them an hourly wage for simply attending is the best way to provide that incentive. Paying for results (e.g., an A = $2,000, B= $1,000, C=$500, etc.) would better align incentives with what educators are attempting to achieve.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

A) It doesn't work.

B) It is insane.

 

[Exterous]

I only skimmed the article (I'll have to read it later), so I may be off base on my post.

I support paying students to progress through school, as it provides a strong incentive for students to attend and complete school, and ultimately become a productive member of society. That said, I'm not sure if paying them an hourly wage for simply attending is the best way to provide that incentive. Paying for results (e.g., an A = $2,000, B= $1,000, C=$500, etc.) would better align incentives with what educators are attempting to achieve.

Harvard already tried that:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1978758-1,00.html

The best results were for rewarding kids for positive learning behaviors not grades. Of course IMO the parents should be providing this not the schools. I don't like the idea of my taxes going to pay some child to show up to school because its too much for the parent to incentivize/make them attend

 

[Texashiker]

Considering schools are just a type of work, I think kids should be compensated for their time, and not just in summer school.

One might even argue that schools are a type of forced labor.

 

[theevilsharpie]

Harvard already tried that:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1978758-1,00.html

The best results were for rewarding kids for positive learning behaviors not grades.

Interesting, I stand corrected. I guess it makes sense that students respond best to incentives when it's something they can directly control and understand how to do.

Of course IMO the parents should be providing this not the schools. I don't like the idea of my taxes going to pay some child to show up to school because its too much for the parent to incentivize/make them attend

Parental guidance is ideal, but in reality, the type of student that needs help to succeed in school is the type that probably doesn't have much parental support at home. Kids that drop out of school tend to end up in jail or on welfare, so they end up becoming society's problem anyway. Better to spend those tax dollars when there's still a chance that they can become productive members of society.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

One might even argue that schools are a type of forced labor.

Or a free daycare.

 

[Texashiker]

Or a free daycare.

Considering most people are forced to pay school taxes, I would not call it free.

 

[DucatiMonster696]

Its so wonderful how government spends our money.

So they are paying these kids just to show up and attend classes. Is the pay rate they are providing via this employment at all linked to their results grade wise during summer school and into the real school year? What about classroom behavior and general appearance are they paid for that too?

Seriously why not just abolish the minimum wage laws instead and help these kids develop real employment skills and experience in a actual job? Let these kids work for their money providing goods and services in a business rather then playing along with this dog and pony show that attempts to bribe these kids into academic success which they clearly are not motivated to achieve on their own.

Additionally summer school is hardly a academically challenging environment in most public schools systems across the nation and most kids (going off my own experience and understanding in SF schools) are given passing grade for just showing up and not presenting themselves to be a hassle to the teacher in the classroom. So how is this action going to change these kids and their lives around? How is it going to motivate them to improve their grades in the long term when the money is no longer around?

 

[mect]

Considering schools are just a type of work, I think kids should be compensated for their time, and not just in summer school.

One might even argue that schools are a type of forced labor.

While this is unfortunately true for most, this mindset is really one of the biggest problems with education in this country. There have been cultures where learning was the height of recreation.

 

[drebo]

I thought that the education was the reward for going to school.

Why the fuckity fuck should these little ingrate pieces of shit be paid money to do something that's already free for them and is already supposed to provide them with reward enough in the long-term?

If they're not willing (or able) to go to a traditional school and get a traditional education by the time they're in high school, send them to a 2 year trade school where they can learn how to change oil and do that for a living.

Jesus shit-fucking Christ, this is the worst idea the government's had in days.

 

[peonyu]

The area in question is majority black, how about spending that $ on family value courses or something else that *might* fix black culture instead? Its no wonder the black community has the highest drop out rate, gets the lowest scores and has the highest crime rate when daddy dearest flees after knocking mama up and leaves her in the hood to raise her kids alone [90% of black kids dont know their dad]. Paying those kids $ to try and learn isnt going to help much either, they are already in Summer school and on the road to failure, the money would be better spent on the few kids who are doing well in class as a incentive to continue doing well.

 

[TridenT]

The area in question is majority black, how about spending that $ on family value courses or something else that *might* fix black culture instead? Its no wonder the black community has the highest drop out rate, gets the lowest scores and has the highest crime rate when daddy dearest flees after knocking mama up and leaves her in the hood to raise her kids alone [90% of black kids dont know their dad]. Paying those kids $ to try and learn isnt going to help much either, they are already in Summer school and on the road to failure, the money would be better spent on the few kids who are doing well in class as a incentive to continue doing well.

That post I'm quoting... my reaction: Yikes. D: