ST. LOUIS (AP) - About a dozen parents of children at a St. Louis grade school have a little more spending money this holiday season.
A St. Louis nonprofit, Urban Strategies, funded the program that offered monetary incentives at Jefferson Elementary School, a school long troubled by poor academic performance. Kids new to the school with no suspensions and virtually no absences were able to earn up to $600 in checks or gift cards.
The goal was to see if a monetary incentive would improve learning conditions at the school.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday that students in the program missed about half as many days as their classmates, though suspension rates were about the same. The program helped encourage 18 families to enroll at Jefferson.
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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, www.stltoday.com.