Paying Parents For Students’ Grades?

Posted Aug 27, 2010 by Sherri Ackerman

Updated Aug 27, 2010 at 10:57 AM

Now this is an interesting idea - paying parents for coming to conferences with teachers, and paying students who score well on tests.

The Houston Chronicle reports here that the city’s local public school district is starting a program that will offer financial incentives for parents and students at 25 elementary schools ranking the lowest in math achievement.

The $1.5 million pilot program is funded by the Dallas-based Liemandt Foundation. Fifth-graders could earn as much as $440 for passing short math tests that show proficiency; parents could earn an additional $180 for attending conferences with teachers. All told, each family could make as much as $1,020.

Teachers also get paid - up to $40 per student for holding those conferences with parents.

Is this a good idea?

Schools have long used reward programs to get children to read. At my children’s preschool, the kids can win a class party when everyone reads regularly. And teachers have been collecting bonuses based on student achievement and for teaching higher-level classes for awhile now.

But paying parents to do what they should be doing feels a little hinky for some reason. And some experts say it doesn’t really accomplish the goal of making children lifetime learners. Instead, they are short-term learners.

But think about it. If your kids eat their dinner, do you reward them for dessert? When they clean their room, do they get an allowance?

The concept is not new. The money is.