High School Kills Color-Coded ID Program

theodp writes "Anaheim Union High School District has killed a controversial incentive program that assigned students color-coded ID cards and planners based on state test scores, required those who performed poorly to stand in a separate lunch line and awarded the others with discounts. The program was designed to urge students to raise scores on the California Standards Tests, but it also raised concern among parents and students who said it illegally revealed test scores and embarrassed those who didn't do well."

Comments

Re:Wow, just write an 'F' on their forehead

[vlm]

How 'bout this. Starting with 5th grade give $1000 cash per year to each student in the top 5%. Then, the best might have $8000 ready for college and stand a fighting chance of actually being able to pay for it.

Intensely DUMB idea.

1) Like all govt interference in the free market, the colleges will all raise their prices by $8000 in response, regardless if the student earned the eight grand or even if the student lives in a district or state where the $8K is offered. After all, by supply and demand, the supply of cash just increased $8K, correct? The school is leaving free money on the table if they don't increase their tuition by $8K. As a former "tuition reimbursement" guy, why should my employer pay an extra $8K?

2) It'll cost more to administer than the existing financial aid programs, if not because its more complex, at least because its a second system in addition to financial aid, so rather than $10K going to students via "old fashioned financial aid" the students will only get $8K with $2K for salaries of the drones, program managers, executive level, etc.

3) Huge legal and admin overhead to make sure the parents / kids don't just turn the $ into crack or weed. Big brother / 1984 style social engineering and control of all aspects of ones financial life is expensive and complicated.

4) After income taxes on the gift, the kid only gets $X where $X is basically a transfer payment from the local district / state to the feds. So the feds "have to" (or do they?) transfer more money to the district... Its basically a bunch of highly paid bean counters passing monopoly money back and forth without really accomplishing anything.