MONEY FOR GOOD GRADES!?

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Chicago Public Schools: Green for Grade$ http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-money-for-grades-11-sep11,0,4916582,print.story

I read the blogs by Rachel Barry’s at http://rachelsedreflections.blogspot.com/
John Lundeberg’s at http://johnlundy.blogspot.com/
and Angela Dodge’s at http://angeladodge.blogspot.com/

The main issue of these blogs was whether or not it is a smart idea to pay students for getting A’s in school and if the opinions differed depending on if we were looking at the perspective of the parents, the teachers, or the taxpayers. First of all, I do not think it is right to pay students to get good grades. Students are in school to learn, not to get paid. School is not a job, but a place of learning and growing. Secondly, I do not think cash for grades is a good idea because of what the money will be used for. Students might use the money to buy drugs, guns, or illegal cigarettes or alcohol. Ultimately, they might use it for activities that will distract them from their studies. While there may be positive, good uses for this money, such as being able to pay for some extra groceries or to pay house bills, I do not think this money will motivate kids to actually learn and comprehend the material; rather, I think it will force students to memorize the material for the test. Thirdly, I think it is a bad idea because after their freshman year they do not receive anymore money. If students did memorize the material, they will soon fall behind in their sophomore year classes. In the end, hurting their education will not be worth the extra $50. I think getting paid for good grades, would also create extra tension and anxiety for those students who do not test well or who do not have a good grasp for the material. This might create extra controversy in the home environment and in schools. Parents and teachers might put extra emphasis on the money instead of the most important underlining factor of learning.

In regards to the actual money, I did not read exactly where the money came from besides donations. I would assume then that the money would have to come from taxpayers in the future. As I thought about this, I realized that the money from the taxpayers should not go to the students who are succeeding, but rather to the students who need the extra help. So, I believe the money should go to the school instead of those select students. This money can then pay for books, workbooks, computers, extra personnel, extracurricular activities, and other beneficial materials.

In regards to this in my future classroom, I might have students who will have to work in after school jobs to help out their families and might not have the time to do their homework. While I will have to take this into consideration, I can not penalize the rest of the class by assigning less homework. Rather, I will have to work extra hard in the classroom by thoroughly explaining the material and doing an efficient number of examples, so that the students will not have terrible difficulty doing the homework. I might then have to rearrange the lesson plan so that harder problems can be discussed in class rather than done individually at home and on their own.