By: Naomi Spence, Staff Writer

In schools these days, student’s performance on the ITEDs is crucial. It can make or break a school district and poor scores may be detrimental to a schools financial stability. So naturally, the schools feel they need to bribe their students in order for them to perform well. Every year, if a student scores above the eighty-fifth percentile in the nation they are granted one free day off of school, the only problem is the majority of students who perform well on the ITEDs aren’t the ones who will just take a lazy day and not come to school, and besides that it’s not even like the day is “free”. Any work that is missed still needs to be made up on your own time and the day must be planned out far in advance so that you don’t leave a big project in the lurch the day before its due or a lab that can’t be made up. To make the free day even more complicated if the student has some form of school sporting event after school, that day is automatically ineligible for a free day if you still want to participate in the event, which complicates the incentive for any one participating in tennis, golf, soccer, and track. All students participating in spring sports are going to find themselves hard press for a free day to enjoy their “free day”. Student athletes also still need to go to practice on their free days as well, so even if they do find a day that will work being back to school at by three incentive or not. The students that work the hardest in school and out of school are the hardest ones to reward, but if schools want to reward their students with a “free day” they should make sure that it is actually free.