Ohio proposal would pay some students & parents for showing up to school, more for graduating

A bipartisan piece of legislation filed by Ohio state house members would pay some K-12 students and parents up to $675 per year for showing up to school.

The legislation, filed by Ohio state Reps. Bill Seitz (R) and Dani Isaacsohn (D), would create a pilot program ”providing cash transfers as incentives for high attendance rates for students in kindergarten and ninth grade.”

If passed, the Ohio Department of Education would select at least one rural and one urban school district with chronic absenteeism rates to participate in the program. For the program’s pilot, 50% of students from ninth grade and 50% of parents from kindergarten would be eligible for the cash payments.

The program would give participating ninth-grade students and parents of children in kindergarten $25 paid biweekly for students with an attendance rate of 90% or higher during the given two-week period.

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At the end of each quarter, $150 would be given to ninth-grade students and parents of children in kindergarten who have an attendance rate of 90% or higher.

For those who have a 90% attendance rate for the given school year, $500 would be given to the ninth-grade student or parent with a child in kindergarten.

According to the legislation, results would be studied at the end of the program’s pilot.

Additionally, the legislation would create a program allowing the Ohio Department of Education to select at least one school district in a rural area and one in an urban area to give cash incentives to students who graduate high school.

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$250 would be paid to each student at participating high schools upon graduation, and an additional $250 would be given to students with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

Students with a grade point average of 3.5 or higher would receive $750.

In total, the program’s pilot would cost the state $750,000, according to the legislation.

Isaacsohn said in a press release that the incentives are needed.

”One of the most pressing issues facing education today is attendance, and we need creative policies that meet the urgency of the moment,” said Isaacsohn. “Rep. Seitz and I are aiming to pilot evidence-based strategies to get more students back in the classroom and graduating, on time, with high school diplomas.”