Ohio lawmakers consider paying kids to go to school and graduate

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Some state lawmakers want to try a different approach to address rising absenteeism and stagnant graduation rates among Ohio’s youth: paying students to go to school – and finish it.

A bipartisan duo of state representatives has proposed the state fund two pilot programs to study the success that financial incentives may have in increasing graduation and attendance rates. One program would give money to students who regularly attend class, while the other pilot program would give students who graduate high school a lump sum of cash.

More than a quarter of Ohio’s K-12 students were chronically absent during the 2022-23 school year, according to data from the Department of Education and Workforce. Defined as missing more than 10% of a school year, or about 18 days, chronic absenteeism in schools has risen significantly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. While fewer students were chronically absent last year compared with the 2021-22 school year, the rate is substantially higher than the 16.7% chronic absentee rate in the year before the pandemic.

The rates of chronic absenteeism among Ohio’s marginalized youth are even higher. Upward of 45% of Black students missed more than 10% of last school year, while over a third of disabled students and nearly 40% of economically disadvantaged students were deemed chronically absent. Rep. Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati), a sponsor of the pilot programs, called chronic absenteeism the “number one threat” facing K-12 education in Ohio.

“It does not matter how qualified a teacher is, or what the reading curriculum is, if the student is not there to learn,” Isaacsohn told the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee on Tuesday.

Isaacsohn and Rep. Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) have introduced House Bill 348, which would set aside $1.5 million over the next two fiscal years to test out whether cash rewards for achieving attendance and graduation goals can improve educational outcomes for Ohio’s children.

The attendance pilot program would reward kindergarteners and ninth grade students in selected districts $500 if they miss less than 10% of the school year, paid biweekly, quarterly or as a lump sum at the end of the year. Checks would be payable to kindergarteners’ parents or guardians, while checks for ninth-graders would be payable to both the student and their parents – so teenagers can gain financial literacy skills by opening a bank account or cashing a check, Isaacsohn said.

Districts would apply for two of their schools to participate in the program. At least one rural and one urban district must be selected for the pilot, and all chosen schools must consistently rank among those with the highest rates of chronic absenteeism. In exchange, the districts would have to report data to the state comparing attendance rates for students who receive the incentive and those who don’t.

“We’re going to pick the worst of the worst on attendance and see if we can move the needle,” Seitz said.

Isaacsohn and Seitz chose kindergarten and ninth grade for the pilot program because of their significance to academic success; kindergarten is foundational as the student’s first year in school, while the first year of high school is similarly important to academic and social development.

For the graduation incentive pilot, students could receive up to $750 for graduating high school. Participating schools – at least two from each an urban and rural district – must receive Title I funding and be in the bottom fifth of districts based on four-year graduation rates. 

Students from participating schools would receive up to $250 for graduating, up to $500 for graduating with a 3.0 GPA and up to $750 for graduating with a 3.5 GPA. Districts would have to report pre-pilot and post-pilot graduation rates to the state.

If the pilots proved successful, Seitz and Isaacsohn hope the state would fund a permanent incentive program. If they’re not successful, Seitz said, it’s no sweat – $1.5 million is “peanuts” compared to the Department of Education and Workforce’s $19 billion budget.

Rep. John Williams (R-Sylvania) questioned whether financially incentivizing students to attend class would set a bad precedent, considering Ohio already has truancy laws – and penalties for violations. He compared it to paying “rapists not to rape.”

“Deterrent effect of penalties for rape do help stop rape,” Seitz countered. “The deterrent effect of a truant officer is about zero, because most districts don’t even have them.”

“We have tried about everything else,” Seitz added.