Detroit Schools Pay Students $100 a Week to Come to Class. It’s Not Just About Attendance
Detroit recently renewed a program that pays students for perfect attendance. Experts say the idea may help combat deeper barriers.
Students outside of Duffield Middle School in Detroit, Michigan. Photo:
For schools across the U.S., chronic absenteeism is often a top problem. One public school district has taken an unorthodox approach to combatting it.
High school students within the Detroit Public Schools Community District can earn $100 a week for perfect attendance. The initiative, which was established in January 2025, was recently renewed for a second year.
This year, students in sixth through eighth grade will
This year, students in sixth through eighth grade will also be eligible for $50 weekly payments.
Nearly $13.9 million of the district’s $1.1 billion 2026-2027 budget is allocated toward the initiative, which is paid out through Visa gift cards. The program is run on a number of five-day cycles that typically occur between January and March, per The Source.
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The approach has shown measurable success. According to Chalkbeat Detroit, it has led to a ten percent drop in absenteeism—from 64 to 54 percent. Nearly 12,800 of the 15,247 highschoolers across Detroit Public Schools Community District’s 26 high schools, it added, were recipients of the incentive this year.
Experts aren’t necessarily surprised by the outcome.
“Existing scholarship suggests that financial incentives can encourage desired behavior, particularly in the short term, but the effectiveness depends on how the incentive is structured and the behavior being targeted,” Ericka Weathers, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, told Inc.
Source: www.inc.com
