Cash for good grades?!

[Ming]

I was on the way back to the office from lunch today and I heard this on the radio...

http://www.wcbs880.com/NYC-Students-To-Get-Cash-for-Test-Performance/1090692

Bascially, they're offering "underprivelleged" kids cash for doing better on AP tests. Some quick research when I got back to work found that this is happening in other places aside from NYC, and for what appears to be other standardized tests as well, and not just APs.

There was a very long rant that I was going for, but I decided to save that for another time because I'm so angry right now that I can't put my thoughts down in a clear enough manner.

I have nothing against helping out the less fortunate, but I'm getting pretty sick and tired of the "underprivelleged" getting handout after handout, while I'm left to fend for myself in an ocean of student loan debt. Isn't it enough of an incentive that for *actually* applying yourself and doing well on APs, you'll get FREE college credit?

It's unfortunate that my parents were neither super-rich, nor super-poor, because if they had been either, I would have had a free ride too, regardless of how much I applied myself...

[Shino]

I understand your frustration. In reality.. .it's discrimination. Oh.. you're not poor... so you don't get money for grades.

But I do see some sort of reason to it. I mean... I was bribed by my mother (for a short time anyway) to get good grades.

I plan on doing that with my kids. You get X amount for each A or whatever. Lesser fortunate families don't get that benefit.

In reality... they should expand the definition of "lesser fortunate family" I think.

[Ming]

I don't have a problem with wanting to help the less fortunate, but my gripe is that at some point a line needs to be drawn. I keep referring to these kids as "underprivelleged" because at this point that word doesn't actually mean anything anymore and it's nothing more than a word used so that you feel bad. There are countless scholarships and programs that have been set up to give these kids every advantage in life and all they have to do to take advantage of them is to actually care. They graduate college with a clean slate and have access to the same opportunities that I do, except that I'm struggling to pay my $830/month student loans (no, I'm not exaggerating). But apparently that's not enough...apparently now they need to get bribed to do well on tests.

My school gave me pretty much shit in the way of "financial aid"...they even took aid away because at one point I went out and got an outside scholarship...and yet every dumb athlete gets a free ticket and only has to maintain some obscenely low GPA...while I busted my ass to graduate with over 3.0, with my final semester at around 3.5.

If YOU want to give YOUR kids cash incentives for doing well in school that's one thing, and I completely condone that practice. But I don't think it's fair to have the local government doing it.

[Shino]

I can agree.

But for me it's more annoying about the "status" they call underprivileged.

I have to say that when I was living with my mother and trying to go to college with her making < 30K a year... then getting turned down for the Pell grant b/c my mother "made too much money"... yeah I was pretty pissed.

[Blackmage]

Yeah the social status of being poor is too damned low. Hell I can't even afford my own bills but I'm $200ish over the line for food stamps and such.

[reaper]

I heard about this program while listening to NPR. The way I understand it it’s only like a few hundred dollars. I would love to get a piece, but it’s not like they are handing out fortunes for it.

[Ming]

[Shino]

[Ming]

Granted, getting a 5 on an AP test isn't that small of a feat, but for a $1000 incentive I would have made sure that I did it.

[Shandriz]

Considering how many AP tests I took...dude, if I'd actually been bothered with them and had $1000 on the line, I could totally have actual money...well, no, I probably would've spent it and/or given it to my parents to pay for my college tuition. But still!