Can you imagine that every time you got an A, B, or C in a course, you got rewarded with cold

hard cash?

Getting paid for good grades may be out of the question for college students, but such a thing does exist for Chicago high schoolers.

According to a Chicago-Sun Times report, Mayor Richard Daley has instituted the Green for Grades program in Chicago Public high schools, which pays cash to students who earn good grades.

If a student earns an A in a course they can receive $50. Every B earns $35, and a C will leave students $20 richer. Half of the payout is given right away, and students collect the other half after graduation.

“Cash is a short-term incentive for education,” said Barbara Curry, financial aid counselor for the Deacon Davis CHANCE Program. “How long will the money stand up? You never know what the kids will use the money for.”

Everybody in schools with Green for Grades is eligible to receive money for their high marks. However, after one failing grade of F, that student is automatically out of the running for monetary compensation.

Overall, CPS has paid out about $260,000 to about 3,300 freshmen participating in the program.

The incentive for such a program is huge. At best, a student who earns all A’s at the end of each 5-week marking period for two years will receive $4,000.

This program has been met with much criticism, and for good reason. Why should students be paid in cash to receive good grades? Although some sort of reward should be given to struggling students for earning good grades, especially students who do not come from wealthy

backgrounds, the reward should not be in the form of cash.

A better, more educational-inspiring reward would be more effective because monetary rewards can be used on shopping, movies, fast food or other teenage commodities.

“It’s [Green for Grades] a fantastic program, but scholarships for a college education should be offered to the students who do well in school, especially since higher education is so expensive,” Curry said.

College scholarships are better in the long run. Money for grades will inspire students to do well in school for a short period of time. Scholarships offer college education down the road, and students will harvest a long-time appreciation of education, rather than viewing it as a temporary lucrative job.

Education should be for education’s sake. Believing cash will inspire students to value education and continue during and after high school is wrong.