Newton Summer Adventure - Controversies

Controversies

School districts pay Newton Learning to run Summer Adventure and boost summer attendance rates, which in turn generate state aid and a profit for the districts. In order to encourage enrollment and attendance, Newton offers Visa debit cards to students with good attendance during the summer school session. The debit card balances range from $100 for perfect attendance to $50 for 14 hours missed. In Columbia, Missouri, 3,637 students received debit cards in the 2005 summer session. Depending on the district, Summer Adventure also holds drawings for daily incentives and gift cards, as well as bigger prizes like the Xbox 360.

The incentives have been controversial. Many parents prefer to enroll their children in programs that do not offer such incentives. Others object to the idea of private companies running public education. Rep. Maynard Wallace, a Missouri legislator, attempted in December 2004 to pass a bill blocking school districts from using Newton Learning and other for-profit companies to gain state aid. "We’re taking taxpayer money that would be going to educate our children, and it’s going to a company. It’s going to a corporation that’s doing this for profit," Wallace said. Clay Routledge, a doctoral student in psychology, commented that monetary reinforcements for summer school would decrease intrinsic motivation for learning.

Busing problems in Columbia in the summer of 2004 also raised criticisms. The problems have since been largely resolved.