Detroit Public Schools Are Paying Students $100 a Week For Perfect Attendance

The Source – Detroit Public Schools Community District is expanding its “Perfect Attendance Pays” initiative for the 2026-27 school year, offering high school students $100 per week and middle school students $50 per week for flawless attendance during designated periods.

There are some important rules behind the money. The program does not operate throughout the entire 180-day school year. The incentives have traditionally been concentrated into weekly cycles from January through March, a stretch when Detroit’s winter weather and seasonal illnesses can make getting students into classrooms especially difficult.

What a deal. I know $100 isn't what it used to be. Inflation and whatnot. I'm not even sure what an eighth of weed goes for to a high schooler nowadays. But $100 for a high school student is still damn good money. Back in my day, I would have been thrilled for a shot at $10. Amongst a group of friends, $10 each can fund an entire weekend. 

Detroit Public School's $100 a week perfect attendance program doesn't run every day of the year. But for a 10 week stretch from January to March, kids all over Detroit will have a chance to cash in on pretty easy $1,000. 

I'm a big believer in financial incentives for good grades. In a perfect world, kids would understand it's a marathon not a sprint. That getting good grades and maintaining perfect attendance builds discipline that translates to the real world, which leads to more opportunities and a better life in the long run. But kids don't understand that. Adults don't even understand that. Sometimes you gotta meet kids halfway, and incentive them a little more frequently. Or at all. For some kids, good grades on a report card only mean so much when you're still fucking poor. 

But this isn't even about grades. All these kids have to do is show up from January through March and the $1,000 is theirs. Which almost sounds dangerous. Is it really safe to just send an entire school district's worth of kids out into Detroit, with the whole city knowing they just had a $100 come up? The literal payment schedule is on the internet. 

Apparently the money is issued to them on an electronic Visa gift card. The school's website says they're unable to transfer money from the card to anywhere else. There are some safety measures in place. But it's not like you can't shake a kid down for a password. That's probably a good day to have mom or dad pick you up from school. But then you've gotta keep the money away from them too. $100 isn't some crazy amount or anything, but it's enough to pique interest. 

Congrats on your new winter jobs, Detroit high schools. But be careful out there. That's your $100. You can spend it as irresponsibly as you'd like.