Paying kids to come to school

I once asked the mother of one of the brightest, hardest-working teenagers I had ever met what she had done to motivate her son when he was a little boy.

"Money," she said without missing a beat. "When he was little, he'd work for pennies."

I say that to acknowledge that, like it or not, cash stands behind some of mankind's best efforts.

Nevertheless, I am not a fan of New York City's plan to pay low-income students to do well on tests ($300 to $350), get a library card ($50),and graduate from high school ($400). In addition, their parents can make $25 for attending a parent-teacher conference. The family also gets $600 for each Regents exam the child passes.

The bonuses come mostly from private funds and target 2,500 families in six poor neighborhoods. In fact, they're pitched as an anti-poverty effort that will improve student achievement.

Plenty of middle- and upper-income parents use financial incentives to motivate their kids, but I think we foster a mercenary attitude when we pay kids to come to school and work hard -- and, geesh, to even get a library card. And I wonder how much benefit a parent-teacher conference could provide if parents have to be paid to attend.

Sorry, I think there are better ways to fight poverty and to get children to take responsibility for their own learning.