<p>Earn</a> an A? Here's $50. -- chicagotribune.com</p>
<p>A = $50
B = $35
C = $20</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>I wish I go to that school.</p>
<p>I don't like it because it only goes towards freshmen. What happens when they're sophomores? The lack of incentives will cause their grades to drop and then the money would've been a waste.</p>
<p>it's stupid...takes away internal motivation...plus it encouraged grade grubbing to the max</p>
<p>Wow.</p>
<p>It's like, indirectly fostering stupidity.</p>
<p>I agree with everyone who's against it. It seems pretty low to me.</p>
<p>Pretty dumb idea. Once they move on from freshmen year, they won't try anymore (only the ones that were doing it for the money, not the ones who are internally motivated).</p>
<p>I think it's a terrible idea!</p>
<p>However, if they were to implement it in my school, I wouldn't complain.</p>
<p>I want money...</p>
<p>I think the program is very well intentioned. As the article mentioned, many kids opt to drop out of school in order to help support their families (and various other reasons of course), and this program will add some incentive to keep kids in school. And even if it doesn't truly cultivate a "passion" for a subject, at least it will show these students what it takes to earn top marks and instill good study habits. Personally, I think it's always a good thing when society gives to education, it's an investment that pays back many times over.</p>
<p>I'm for it. Some of us actually need money and um, aren't rich as hell?</p>
<p>If this policy was implemented in my school I'd definitely do my homework and maybe even turn in stuff once in a while.</p>
<p>Motivation is motivation, miright?</p>
<p>I find it disturbing.</p>
<p>Absolutely ridiculous. It's sad that kid have to be bribed inadvertently to succeed in school. What happened to getting good grades, going to a good college, and getting a good job as motivation?</p>
<p>I think it's a good idea.</p>
<p>
Come on, do none of you guys have friends whose parents offer them ridiculous amounts of money for good/average grades? I sure do. These kids' parents, it seems, don't generally have that option. If the school has this money to give away, I don't see why it shouldn't be used as an incentive to try harder in school.</p>
<p>
...But isn't that the exact same thing? A good job == good money. So people who are driven by the idea of "getting a good job" in the long term are no more admirable than those who work with the intention of getting money in the short term. </p>
<p>The only legit concern, IMO, is the likelihood that the kids are just going to work for grades and not accumulate knowledge. You know, the whole "learn for the sake of learning, not for the GPA!" thing. However, I'm positive that kids who formerly didn't care if they passed or failed, and didn't do their homework or try on tests, were learning close to NOTHING. Even if they now do their work just for the grades, they are definitely going to learn a lot more than they were before in the process.</p>
<p>thats messed up mannnn</p>
<p>You guys are forgetting that anyone who has a job does work for the money. This is the same thing, except it's high school.</p>
<p>Exactly. You forget not everyone's rich as hell. And also how do you know if those students will ONLY work hard because of this policy, hm? Once they work hard they can delve into more subjects and learn more, and may even end up liking it (this happens all the time). Also, it may be targeted at already hardworking/smart students who NEED money.</p>
<p>And reading the actual article (which none of you seem to have and are just making assumptions) :
[quote]
"The majority of our students don't come from families with a lot of economic wealth. I'm always trying to level the playing field," said schools chief executive Arne Duncan. "This is the kind of incentive that middle-class families have had for decades."
[/quote]
Since some have said about the hypotheticals of only "working for money", I can say an equal hypothetical for one seriously in need of money to work all day w/bad grades when in actuality he/she may be smart. Used properly, this is a good idea and an adequate incentive. </p>
<p>Of course, I don't deny that there are cons to this (like everything else)...but I'd seriously say the pros outweigh the cons here. Ultimately, it's upto the individual.</p>
<p>What happened to responsibility? Everyone expects everything to be handed to them these days - it's getting ridiculous.</p>
<p>EDIT: nevermind - I see the merits this has after reading it.</p>
<p>i completely agree with Poseur
if no matter how hard we worked in school, we still all became serfs, who is seriously going to go for the A?
studying for the sake of just getting the grade is normal...</p>