Test will pay 175 to stay in school in effort to reduce dropout rate
by Rachel Hamilton on Aug. 09, 2007, under Education, LocalFind out more about education issues in Tucson moms page.
About 175 juniors and seniors in Tucson will be paid $100 a month to attend high school.
The pilot plan, called the First Job Program, will be launched this fall in Rincon and Amphitheater high schools.
Youth Education Security, a non-profit organization, will give a weekly allowance of $25 to students who stay in school and out of trouble.
The earning potential for these students is $1,000 for the year and bonuses at the end of each semester for a 3.0 or above grade-point average and 100 percent attendance.
Program founder and financier Lou Barsky has high hopes for the three-year pilot program. He hopes his model will catch on and encourage the government to fund programs such as this all around the country.
Statistics suggest that students from low-income households are twice as likely to drop out than those from middle-income households, so First Job targets the bane of many of these dropouts: poverty.
“This is not about the issue of education. This is about the issue of poverty,” Barsky said. “This is what these kids need.”
The 100 Rincon and 75 Amphi students will remain anonymous, even to their teachers. They will be set up with checking accounts at Wells Fargo Bank, where their stipends will be deposited biweekly, like a paycheck from a job.
Maintaining the accounts will be part of the program, and “financial literacy” will help the students become more responsible with money, said Sean P. Murray, assistant vice president of Wells Fargo’s Tucson Business Banking.
Youth Education Security’s program is based on the United Kingdom’s government-funded Educational Maintenance Program, which was implemented in 2004 and boasts an increased retention rate of 12 percent, Barsky said.
Research and evaluation of the First Job Program will be done by the University of Arizona’s department of educational psychology, headed by Darrell Sabers.
UA helped choose the students in the program and suggested that census numbers be used to pick the most needy, said Gina Reyes, Youth Education Security’s administrator.
Many of the students’ families were hesitant to sign a contract to be a part of the program, said Larry Martinez, assistant principal of Rincon High School. But that changed.
“They asked, ‘What’s the catch?’ ” he said. “But now they’re excited. Lou (Barsky) has been nothing but gracious and helpful to our kids.”
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ON THE WEB
For more about the First Job Program and Youth Education Security, visit www.youtheducationsecurity.org.
