NO, NO, NO

Fulton to pay students in after-school program

Creekside High and Bear Creek Middle will pay students $8 an hour for "Learn & Earn" program

By MICHELLE E. SHAW

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 01/22/08

Fulton County schools want to pay students to stay in school a little longer. Forty students from Creekside High and Bear Creek Middle schools in Fairburn will be the first to try the "Learn & Earn" program, where students will get paid to attend after-school tutoring programs.Students will make approximately $8 an hour, and be eligible for bonuses if their grades improve, said Kirk Wilks, district spokesman. The initial students are in the eighth and 11th grades.There will be a community kick-off Thursday at 3 p.m. in the Creekside High media center, 7405 Herndon Rd., Fairburn.With the support of Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts, the pilot program will last 15 weeks and pay students for participation and performance. The object of the program is to determine if paying students to study will improve classroom attendance, grades and test scores, according to a news release from the district.The initiative is funded by Charles Loudermilk, chairman and chief executive officer of Aaron Rents, through the Learning Makes A Difference Foundation. The foundation is a local non-profit designed to improve education through creative programs.The students chosen for the program were picked by school staff, based on attendance, grades, test scores and free or reduced lunch status, the release said.

I am completely baffled at this atrocity! Let me point out a major problem; there is not enough money to pay teachers or pay for materials in which teachers wind up paying for out of pocket....but there is enough money to pay these brats more 2.15 MORE than minimum wage. Yes, I said brats; yes I know I want to teach. Brats are kids who stick out their hand with an attitude "you want me to do what you ask of me? Well then where's my money?" And this is exactly what will happen if this program for these 40 kids in Fulton county.
Kids talk, and the first thing out of other students not participating in this program...."Where's my money, I'm not going to take your stupid test"

So, my other thought, where/how did they choose the 40 kids who will be participating in this experimental program? Obviously, they are not the kids making the grade; well kids making the grade do not typically stay after school for tutoring. Well, they are not the kids involved with school extracurricular activities, because those kids are staying after school anyway...not being paid.
So who are our lovelies being paid to learn? I'll think about this while I rack up some more student loan debt studying how to teach these lovelies.