Its been a while since I've made a policy post
The Steven O’Keefe Education Plan
Apparently in Washington D.C, they spent $16,500 on each student every year. That’s the highest in the nation. Yet only 15% of the students read at their grade level. That’s what we call throwing money at a problem. So on my long drives home from work, I’ve been thinking about ways to improve schools.
How about we de-unionize teaching and turn it into a competitive market. I mean, perhaps it should be possible to fire a teacher for … you know… incompetence. Giving teachers raises and bonuses for good performance would be nice too. Different teachers deserve different pay is all I’m saying. They need motivation to do their jobs well.
Now for the crazy part. What if D.C. took some of that $16,500 and used it as an incentive for the student? Start by adjusting every GPA across the nation to be on the same standard. Harder classes should be weighted so that it’s possible to get over a 4.0. Then, at the end of each semester, you take each student with a GPA over 2.0, multiply their GPAs by $350 and then put that money into an individual account that the student will be able to access upon graduation.
That way, students have an incentive to do well and to graduate. Every senior suffering from senioritis will be looking at a several thousand dollar finish line at the end of the year. A student who averages a 3.666 GPA for all four years will have $5800 waiting for them at the end of high school.
The cost would be $2,800 from that $16,500 yearly for a 4.0 student. And if he’s getting a 4.0, then shit… it's money well spent.
Just a thought.