We'll See You After School...Now Give Us Your Lunch Money

I, for one, had not heard of the Noble Network of Charter Schools (NNCS) until I read today's paper (Chicago charter schools criticized for fining students, Associated Press). For anyone who has not read the story yet, and I do urge you to do so. This article seems to create more than a few opinions (as I found out quickly when asking a few of my "pod mates" at my workplace).

At the heart of the coverage is the NNCS and the 10 high schools it operates in Chicago. The network has adopted a monetary fining policy for rule breakers, highlighted in the article by minor infractions that many adults continue to fail at daily. According to the Associated Press, students receive demerits when they break the rules including chewing gum, missing a button and leaving their shoes untied. After receiving four demerits in a two-week period the students receive detention and a $5 fine.

Critics reportedly call the fines harassment and a way to "nickel and dime" low income students. Well those nickels and dimes certainly added up last school year, to the tune of $190,000.

Polling my work colleagues on this topic led to two distinct camps. On one side were the disciplinarians who respect the use, although in moderation, of negative reinforcement. I certainly remember missing more than a few recesses after my cursive letters fell a little too far below the line or jumped a smidge too high. On the other side were those who feel that positive reinforcement should be widely adopted. I also remember root beer scented scratch and sniff stickers, the highest award in my small grammar school for a job well done. (If someone knows where I can find those stickers - there is a comments section below...)

After all of the debating, this seems to be a tactic falling outside of these two camps of thought. In a period in a child's life when time is precious and money is scarce for many families, should a school be taking both as a form of punishment?

Let us know what you think. We set up a Facebook poll so that you can share whether you think that fines have a place in school. http://www.facebook.com/supportunitedway