On USA Today's website there was an article entitled "Good grades pay off — literally" by Greg Toppo which explained a new educational tool emerging in the United States. The title of the article basically gives away what this new educational tool is. Toppo states, "these days, some students are finding that good grades can bring them cash and luxury gifts". In places like New York City, kids are getting chances to win/receive decent amounts of money just for improving their scores on tests they have to take throughout the year. This new incentive to learn has been met with both support and opposition. Tommie Sue Anthony, the president of the Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science, believes that this new program is good because it provides incentive for low-income and minority students. Others disagree and think it is a damaging concept to continue.
As a student I am opposed to this new form of incentive. I find it to be a damaging practice because it makes me assume that these students cannot get good grades without doing it for free money. I tend to believe that almost all students would try harder if they knew they were getting money in return. Children sometimes get money for doing chores around their house and when this concept is applied to our educational system I think it is rather depressing to think that students begin to do better once money is involved. I don't believe in this new incentive at all. When I worked for something I wanted I did it because I enjoyed being independent and gained a sense of pride when I was able to do something alone. I cannot understand why we still try to solve problems with money. Good teachers do not get more money than bad teachers. The effort you put in at the workplace does not grant you free money. This is why I found this new incentive to be a doomed concept. I believe in helping less fortunate students, but raising test scores does not seem like a good enough reason to give students money.
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I totally agree with Dan on this subject, school is a place for learning and is not a place where you are going to recieve money just for doing something that is expected of you. When you are doing work, you are expected to do something to the best of your ability, you just can not go around thinking that you are going to be rewarded for almost every good deed you do. When at a job, you are not going to be just like, "hey I did my job, pay me more than what you are paying me cause I did what was told of me." Sure we should have perhaps an incentive program, but not where money or gifts are involved, it is too much of a bribery system. Perhaps an alternative is that if you do good on an exam, you may not have to do one of the homeworks that following week.
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