Learning about money

Michele Norris' interview with Rafe Esquith:

NORRIS: You have an economic system that you used in your classroom and it's fascinating. Each child in Room 56 applies for a job and then they get paid for doing that job. They can earn extra money, I guess overtime, if they join extracurricular groups and they actually have to pay rent to sit at their desk.

Mr. ESQUITH: They sure do.

NORRIS: And what's the objective there?

Mr. ESQUITH: By the way, I should point out that if they sit closer to the front of the room, they have to pay more rent because it's a better neighborhood. The objective is this - one of the obsessions with schools these days is testing.

The economic system is giving the kids skills that they're going to be using for the rest of their lives. The real assessment of the teacher is what if have I given the child that he'll be using five years from now and 10 years from now. So learning how to take responsibility, learning how to plan a budget, learning how to save his money is something that kids are going to use forever.

As a matter of fact, you should point out that if the children save a lot of money, they can buy their seat and call it a condominium and then they never, ever have to pay rent again to teach them the principle of ownership. And the really clever kids buy other children seats and charge them rent every month.