Local media is abuzz about Capital Gains, a cash incentive program announced last week as the newest effort to fix the District’s notoriously terrible education system. The venture aims to nip in the bud that pesky “downward academic spiral” that all-too-often occurs during angsty middle school years.
With Capital Gains, some 2,700 middle schoolers in 14 D.C. schools (click for list) will be eligible to earn up to $100 per month as reward for good behavior (and, ahem, high test scores), based on a $2-per-good-deed system.
Rooted in a noble cause, certainly, this is obviously a problem without a clear path towards accomplishing. As you can imagine, many parents and teachers are up in arms over the prospect that so directly (and crassly, say some) links cash with knowledge. (Kids, of course, seem to think it’s a great idea.)
The Washington Post reports that the ever-prolific D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee believes the program is worth a shot, considering a paltry 36 percent of students are proficient in reading and 33 percent in math. It’s worth noting that a similar cash incentive program has been shown to garner test score improvements in Texas.
Organizers are quick to say they’re willing to scrap Capital Gains if it doesn’t produce results. “I’m trying to infuse innovation into reform-minded school districts,” program planner and Harvard economist Roland Fryer told the Post.
The concept reminds me of being jealous growing up when my friends got paid for each “A” they earned. Always the dweeb, I held a 4.0 record K-12, with nary an allowance bump for all my do-goodery. My parents rolled their eyes, as they should have, when I bemoaned the injustice. But this is totally different, and ultimately D.C.’s low-income kids need all the help they can get to secure a solid education. If it takes a little good-natured bribery to get them to try their hardest, I can’t help but think maybe that’s OK.
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