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Talk about classic dumb ideas. As an educator I can assure the most high minded person this will work about as well as any other government payment program. The reasons for this idea seem laudable on the surface but look at some pesky realities to determine its practical application.

First, students are like most of us focused on gaining rewards for doing work and / or finding a means to obtain the rewards by cheating. Most affluent school districts already have huge problems with students cheating because of competition for scholarships and recognition. Look at the National Merit Scholars at a given school and then look at the incidence of cheating reported by teachers, students, and administrators. Add to this a modern notion called the cheat code book, there is a multi-million dollar a year industry devoted to providing kids the means to 'beat' popular games using these books. It does not take a rocket scientist to realize how adding cash rewards will make cheating go up exponentially.

Don't just look at the students when it comes to cheating either. During my student teaching in North Carolina, I was responsible for teaching United States and World History. The United States History students had to take an EOC (End of Course) Exam which measured student learning. Now, the state attached bonus money for teachers to the performance of students on the test. What happened? Well, in some cases it became a situation akin to Law School, spend four years studying law and then spend money on an intensive program to prepare one to take the BAR exam. Is that learning or memorizing? In some cases teachers out and out cheated. See the test came in colors. So, pick some A students to lead a team based on what version of the test kids had. State rules said student must take these test individually but as one teacher put it, "I have the lower level kids, I am not going to be the one who costs our department the bonus money because these dummies blew the exam." The cheating already occurs, adding a money incentive will only foster more cheating.

Next is the idea that students should be recognized for being at the top of the educational ladder. As a teacher I felt that students who started by making Ds and Fs and finished with Cs and Bs learned much more than those who made little effort and walked out with an A. So what are we telling kids, "Make As or forget learning?" How about rewarding students who show the greatest improvement? Again, a cash reward is foolish

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