I thought I had seen everything – but alas, I have not.  Now, [tag]Fulton County[/tag] officials have decided to pay a group of “pilot” kids in the 8th and 11th grades $8.00 an hour to learn.   And amazingly it is the “brain child” of [tag]Newt Gingrich[/tag].  The forty students chosen for the “Learn and Earn” program were picked by school staff, based on attendance, grades, test scores and free or reduced lunch status.  So, can kids who may skip school, are poor, and do badly on test grades get paid to learn in tutorial classes?   Would these kids show up for the classes without getting paid?  

If children do not want to learn, care less about school, skip school, have parents who don’t care,  and don’t understand why school is so important in the first place, I can’t imagine that the kids won’t feel like they deserve money to learn forever. They may think they deserve it.  Will it be hand out that is expected?  I do not know the kids in the program personally nor do I really know their background, but I think we are getting into something that is extremely foolish.