I can tell you as a teacher, there are a lot of responsibilities that were once considered prime domain for parents that now rest on the shoulders of your local educator. Just in: paying students to succeed. A pilot program in DC (and Chicago and 1 other city) are paying kids to meet the school requirements: attendance, wearing their uniform, grades, behavior.
Pros:
- It shows kids that we value their education enough to pay them for it.
- Maybe those who drop out or skip class because their family situation is such that they have to work, will be able to stay at school... maybe...
- It might help some motivated students how to manage money.
- It exposes kids to banks who might otherwise only manage their money through Checks Cashed type establishments. (I certainly hope that the bank they are using is fee-free, other than maybe for overdrafts.)
Cons:
- What happens when they want more money?
- Not all are buying dinner out like the article suggests.
- Can you undo a program like this? What happens if the program fails? THEN we expect the students to take their responsibilities seriously again without the cash incentive?
- Bad grades don't cancel out the money they earn just for showing up. I'm pretty sure that if all I do is show up to teach and then play on my computer all day that the money will run out...

So many other questions about this.
What do you all think?