Passing AP, or Advanced Placement, exams earns high school kids college credits before they ever get to college.
A passing grade — 3 on a scale of 5 — also earns the students $100 from either the Texas Instruments Foundation or the O’Donnell Foundation, both of which promote math, science, and engineering educations.
The two foundations teamed up to pledge a total of $1.5 million in rewards to Dallas ISD students who pass the AP tests with a 3 or better.
According to an article in today’s Dallas Morning News, there are 7,656 DISD students enrolled in AP classes for 2010. That would mean the foundations would pay $765,600 if each kid passed one exam. That’s not likely, though, because only about 25 percent of those students passed the tests, according to the same article, and I’ll let you do that math.
My dad wouldn’t have thought much about this kind of idea. He paid me way back when for touchdowns and interceptions, but when I asked about a similar payola program for A’s, B’s, and C’s, he said, “Hell, boy, that’s what you’re in school for.”
He also wanted me to pay him for D’s and F’s, so I kind of backed off that proposal.
Still, is it a good idea to pay students for good grades? Fire up those comments and let us know.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Bruce Felps owns and operates East Dallas Times, an online community news outlet serving the White Rock Lake area. He would have made exactly zero dollars if this plan had been in place when he was in high school.
