Posted on 09/04/2010 9:31:01 PM PDT by DBeers
ST. LOUIS • Stacey Wright had more than a dozen choices when it came to enrolling three of her children in an elementary school, from charters to magnets to traditional public schools in every corner of the city.
She chose Jefferson Elementary School, the brick St. Louis public school across the street. And for that, she may get $900.
For the first time, a local organization is offering parents a cash incentive to enroll their children at Jefferson.
~ SNIP ~
Proponents say the cash rewards are no different from offering college scholarships to top achievers at a high school, and that low-income families need the extra help. Critics counter that the cash prizes fail to address problems that lead to truancy and poor test scores, such as bad teaching or a dull curriculum.
"It's almost like bribing (the students) instead of correcting the core problems," said Garrett Duncan, an associate professor of education at Washington University.
At Jefferson Elementary, the $300 incentive per child is offered by Urban Strategies, a nonprofit organization based in St. Louis. For years, it has partnered with McCormack Baron Ragan Management, the development company that manages Murphy Park, The Brewery and O'Fallon, the three housing complexes surrounding the school.
~ SNIP ~
Means said she fears what might happen if more students do just that. Last year, the school district closed 14 schools. Jefferson is one of a handful of "pilot" schools that give the principals more autonomy and classroom freedom to improve literacy. But to have a future, it needs more students and better test scores.
"There's always the fear that a school might close," Means said. "We came up with this as a way to start the incline."
~ SNIP ~
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
One thing for sure -it is, although in this specific case relatively small, a redistribution of wealth funded in great part and subsidized by monies from the Department of Health and Human Services granted to Urban Strategies under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Strengthening Communities Fund Nonprofit Capacity Building Program.
Grants- AWARD SUMMARY
URBAN STRATEGIES, INC.
ARRA Strengthening Communities Fund Nonprofits Capacity Building Program - The goal of this program is to build the capacity of our nonprofit partners in order to address the broad economic recovery issues present in our community, including helping low-income individuals secure and retain employment, earn higher wages, obtain better-quality jobs, and gain greater acces to state and Federal benefits and tax credits.
AWARD OVERVIEW Award Number 90SI0029 Funding Agency Department of Health and Human Services Total Award Amount $1,000,000 Project Location - City St. Louis Award Date 09/18/2009 Project Location - State MO Project Status Less Than 50% Completed Project Location - Zip 631032315 Jobs Reported 0.00 Congressional District 01 Project Location - Country US
It’s official...This country has lost its freakin mind.
And how much will property taxes go up as a result?
Taxpayers subsidize families with schoolchildren, to go to school.
In-frickin-credible.
I’m almost waiting for the day Obama lets Iran launch the overhead nuke that takes out all our electronics. Let them try and collect taxes then.
“Show me the money”
I live north of STL up by Florissant. Last year they raised property taxes across the board. Why? Because home values fell and the schools need money still, at least thats why they said they had to raise them. (I think our sales tax went up as well? To, make up for those pesky consumers not buying as much you know? Although, that is an assumption, I bet its pretty close in all reality however.)
But the real neat thing for them I suppose was even though they claim the property tax hike was just to make up what would have been a budget shortfall - they raised the new tax % beyond the percent that would have insured they brought in what they did before the real estate bubble. I believe what they did was raise property taxes based on some national average home value loss info that didn’t really apply here, (most around here didn’t lose near as much as the national average in value) hence extra “income” for them now.
Great thinking on their part right?
Because you know once the values (if the values) go back up, they sure as heck won’t be lowering those taxes...
So yeh, I’m sure they will up the taxes on everyone, for anything around here, including an instance like this school paying for attendance.
But its all for the “children” of course: you don’t hate children do you? / sarc
/sarc
Like Willie Green’s, every rider on every trip is subsidized trains, the Democrats now have to pay people to fill the seats of their union, hack contractors, hiring a politicians dumb as a stump daughter at the employment dump, the public school.
Even the poor are fleeing, like East Germans from East Germany, the schools. And, why not? Why stay in a mind killing school and not learn, from those that are stupid, don’t know their subject, and can not teach, when you can at least be out on the streets, away from the public school dump, and what? You don’t have skills. Well, that’s the same as if you stayed at government schools.
I’d say now a days, a kid has a better chance outside of most urban schools, then inside.
If something doesn’t work, throw money at it.
So what else is new?
wish idve thought that up...
LOL -I am sure they pay salaries and expenses etcetera as well -this creates much incentive and a non academic career track for those highly sought after PHDs in womens studies, sociology, psychology, grant writing, and community organizing that contribute so much to both academia and to the bottom line of our economy... Neosocialism is the new capitalism doncha know! ;-)
I am as well sure this is but one of many 'innovative community capacity building' projects...
As an aside, they had to show and or assure that a certain percentage of the grant money would be matched by 'private' contributions. I wonder... IF one was so inclined and able to investigate these grant recipients I suspect there would be found some 'cross pollination' e.g. they contribute and donate to each other directly or indirectly through money laundering as a method of meeting the 'private' contributions required threshold...
Free flowing free money breeds corruption...
btt
Somehow I doubt there will be many $900 checks getting cashed.
No, I do not hate children, lol!
I have three of my own. Homeschooled them and then they went to a private Christian school for a few years.
My oldest is at community college working on a business degree. My middle child is in her freshman year at Bob Jones University, and my youngest is a junior in high school. Unfortunately, public school but she knows what she wants to do and has her mind set.
Public education is the problem. The fact that the school feels the need to offer this is revealing.
Exactly!
Government schools are a price-fixed cartel that is giving a product away for free. If a group of CEOs colluded to do this they would be facing serious prison time.
Geeze! It's bad enough that government schools undercut the private market by giving their product away for tuition-free. Now, they are even **paying** parents to send their kids. What's next? A free home? A free give-away car?
When I was a youngster, we also had a BIG INCENTIVE to attend school.
It was called ‘getting a big *ss whipping from your dad’.
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