Michelle Rhee: Good Behavior to Be Rewarded With Cash

DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee announced a new plan to address discipline problems in Washington’s middle schools by paying for good behavior. The new program will reward students up to $100 if they don’t break the rules and display good manners.  3,000 students at 14 middle schools will be able to earn up to 50 points per month, with each point being worth $2. Good behavior includes attending class regularly and not being tardy, completing homework, and being courteous to teachers and fellow classmates.

$2.7 million has been set aside in Washington D.C.’s education budget for the program. Students earning the cash will have bank accounts set up for them to accept bi-weekly payments.  Half of the program’s cost is being funded by the Harvard American Inequity Lab, which studies poverty and race issues.

Parents, students and education experts have had mixed reactions to the program. “I just totally disagree with this,” said Dionne Davis, whose daughter Samantha is in the seventh grade at Hardy Middle School. “I think the incentive should come from within, just to want to do well, rather than doing it for a dollar.” But Samantha disagrees. “I think it’s a good idea,” said Samantha, 11. “I think middle schoolers should have rewards for getting good grades and stuff on their tests. . . . I would save it for college and maybe give some to charity.”

“That’s pretty pitiful,” said Mary Levy, director of the Public Education Reform Project for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. “It makes me sad to see we’ve sunk so low that we have to pay kids to show up.”

But for Rhee, the program is about motivating students for lifetime achievement.  According to Rhee, the schools should focus on “how we can ensure that students are engaged, that they are invested in their education. I think it’s incredibly important to make sure students take ownership of their learning.”

Rhee said the program is targeting sixth- through eighth-grade students because intractable behavioral problems often crop up in the age group. She believes middle school is a crucial time period because many students are getting into lifetime patterns that would either ensure academic success or dropping out of school.