Pay for Grades

“The Baltimore school system will pay high school students who improve their scores on the state graduation exams up to $110 each, a controversial plan that would be a first in Maryland.

The system will spend $935,622 on the student incentives, part of a $6.3 million plan to help students struggling to pass Maryland's High School Assessments that administrators presented to the school board last night.

State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick approved the plan last week. But in a letter to city schools chief Andres Alonso, she expressed concern about the "lack of ... research" supporting student incentives and required the system to closely track student results,” reports the Baltimore Sun.