(Public) Schools offering free cars and trucks for good attendence

[rainbow4321]

Ok, so how is this fair to kids w/ chronic health problems who may be forced to miss school days?


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/120106natschools.1fb5ac5.html


Sixteen-year-old Kaytie Christopherson was getting ready to do her homework on a Friday when she got a call that made a big improvement in her life: She had won a brand-new pickup truck for near-perfect school attendance.


Public schools commonly reward excellent attendance with movie tickets, gas vouchers and iPods. But some diligent students like Kaytie are now hitting the ultimate teenage jackpot for going to school: They have won cars or trucks. School districts in Hartford, Conn.; Pueblo, Colo.; South Lake Tahoe, Calif.; and Wickenburg and Yuma, Ariz., are also giving away vehicles this school year.

In most cases the car or truck is donated by a local dealership, and the prizes typically are awarded through drawings open only to students with good attendance.

District attendance officer Gary Somerville said he hopes to raise attendance and also reduce the district's 29 percent dropout rate, which he blames in part on Wyoming's booming gas-and-oil industry. "These kids can go out and earn $15, $16, $17 an hour swinging a hammer. It's kind of hard to keep them in school past their 16th birthday," he said.

[bluestateguy]

1. Wouldn't this encourage a contagiously sick kid to come to school?

I'm not sure that this teaches the right lesson.

[Ezlivin]

2. How about for spelling?

Attendance

:)