Educators try all types of programs to increase student grades, some legal, some less so, but DC is trying a new idea. 28 Middle schools in DC will award up to $100 Dollars a month for attendance, good behavior, and doing assigned homework.

I think this tactic is generally a sound one. The Crime rate in DC is very high, there are gang problems, and drug use. Having a financial incentive would encourage students to stay in school, and out of the drugs and crime. Optimally, the student behaves well in school, pays attention in class, and actually does their homework, reinforcing the materials learned that day, and raising grades. The parents of students with less income would have a large incentive to ensure that their child does well in school. $100 every month buys real things like food, water, electricity, not having to worry about that chunk every month would be a comfort. The increased grades would allow for more students to receive merit based scholarships and possibly attend college for free.

There are some possible downsides to this plan as I see it. Firstly, the $100 dollars could go to something illegal, or something frivolous, the best I can hope for is that the people have wise judgment of what to do with the money. Another negative possibility could be that the parents would do the homework for the student to earn some money, however I think it is more likely that the parent would help their students, because cheating on the homework would lower the scores of in-school tests, harming the potential to earn all of the $100.

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What do you think?

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-Aaron Siegel