Should districts pay cash rewards for high grades and test scores?

Monday, April 05, 2010

 

Cash rewards for students are another poor option determined by business people and legislators who do not seem to have a clear perception of how to fix an ailing public education system.  This idea rates right up there with Teacher Merit Incentives and success based on getting children to pass State exams. Unfortunately, none of these monetary “miracle” options will save public education. 

Cash rewards for children and teachers underscores the message that learning itself is not important, that it is the cash outcomes that overshadow the learning process. Students should be taught that learning is a noble effort and they must know how and where to research any topic successfully, while learning the basics of reading, writing, mathematics along with general history and science. It would be more important for teachers to learn fun ways of catalyzing learning within each student, so that learning itself is the justified reward. 

 

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