Detroit Students to Be Paid $100 a Week Just for Showing Up to Class (1 Photo)
Students in Detroit might have just stumbled into the easiest job of their lives. The local school district has officially approved funding for its "Perfect Attendance Pays" program, which will pay high schoolers $100 a week simply for bothering to show up to class. 
Think back to your own school days, when good attendance earned you little more than an approving nod from your teacher, and try not to be too jealous.
The rules set by Detroit officials are as strict as any corporate job. The cash is handed out via Visa gift cards, but to claim their weekly $100, students must sit through every single period from Monday through Friday. Show up late to geometry or duck out early from chemistry, and say goodbye to your cash.
This campaign of unprecedented generosity kicks off after winter break, running from January through March. Statistically, American teens hit peak winter blues during these cold months, sending truancy rates soaring. Over the 10-week winter stretch, the most dedicated student can walk away $1,000 richer. What's more, the program has been expanded this year: payouts are now available to middle schoolers (grades 6–8) as well, though they earn a bit less—"just" $50 a week.
For years, Detroit has led the nation in chronic absenteeism. Before the program launched, a staggering 64% of high school students were chronically absent, regularly skipping school to hang out on the streets of what isn't exactly the safest city.
When officials realized that pep talks and calling parents weren't working, they decided to speak the only language Gen Z truly understands: cold, hard cash. And surprisingly enough, capitalism won! Following the first rounds of payouts, truancy rates immediately dropped by 10 percent.
Taxpayers, however, are a bit shocked by the scheme, taking to social media to ask, "When do I get paid just for showing up to work?" But the school district administration has a simple response: nearly $14 million has been allocated to fight truancy, and if cash gets kids into class, then the plan is working like clockwork.
