Paying Students to go to School?

The city of Camden, New Jersey plans to pay high school students $100 to go to school:

The city of Camden will be paying almost 70 high school students $100 each to go to school in the first three weeks of the year.

Funded by a grant that must be used by Sept. 30, the city is trying to fight truancy with a new program called I Can End Truancy (ICE-T), reports the Inquirer.

To receive the promised $100, each of the 66 targeted students must attend classes as well as conflict-resolution and anger-management workshops until Sept. 30.

Where to begin with this one: First off, this is a perfect example of the entitlement attitude run amuck. We've gotten to the point in America where high school students feel they should be paid to go to school, paid to learn, be paid to be educated, despite taxpayers already footing the bill for a their public education so they can have a chance at a bright future and to be a productive member of society. Second, this takes all responsibility away from parents, who should be making sure their high school kids are in class. Third, if parents don't require their kids to attend school and high school students aren't responsible enough to attend class, they should suffer the consequences of their actions rather than placing the burden of their irresponsibility on taxpayers, especially after disrespecting a public education provided on behalf of the taxpayer in the first place, specifically in New Jersey, one of the most highly taxed populations in the country.