EDUCATION
Paying students for higher scores can work
Rewarding students with money if they do well in school can help improve attendance, behavior, grades and standardized test scores, according to a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Essentially, paying students if they meet a certain academic standard, or entering them into a lottery to win a prize, motivates them to try harder in school.
“We estimate overall program effects (on the achievement standard) between four-six percentage points, or a 15−22 percent increase,” the researchers wrote. The paper was written by Steven Levitt and John List, both with the University of Chicago, and Sally Sadoff with the University of California, San Diego.
“Programs need to be tailored to students’ abilities and needs, which is difficult given the broad distribution of students in most settings,” the researchers cautioned.
Additionally, they said gains faded out in the junior and senior years of high school. The monetary incentives, however, were offered only during the students’ freshman year. Had they continued into later years, they likely would have been more effective, though also more costly. Also, since the study was carried out in only one Chicago suburb, its results may not be applicable to the entire country. — Jason Russell
MEDICAL MARIJUANA
CARERS Act gains new support a year after its introduction
Once considered the most important piece of legislation on medical marijuana, the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States Act of 2015 is attracting new backing, even from Republicans.
When Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, refused to give the bill a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee in December, the CARERS Act was written off as a lost cause. But in the year since it was last introduced by Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., the act has gained 15 co-sponsors, renewing vigor for the once-forgotten bill. On March 10, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., threw his weight behind the bill. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., signed on a few days later.
Since last summer, medical marijuana advocates have been focusing on the Appropriations Committee, which passed three provisions that make up the bulk of the CARERS Act: allowing veterans to have access to medical marijuana; letting states set their own marijuana policies, which Graham, who is also on the Judiciary Committee, supported; and allows banking services for marijuana companies.
The Drug Policy Alliance is campaigning to rally support for the CARERS Act, with a new petition demanding that Grassley schedule a hearing. If more senators, especially from red states, sign on to the bill, it could put enough pressure for Grassley, the Judiciary Committee chairman, to move it forward to the Senate floor. — Joana Suleiman
CLASS-ACTION LAWSUITS
Tort reform bill unlikely to become law
A bill that would bar a lawsuit from being filed as class action unless every member of the suit was shown to have suffered exactly the same injury as the named plaintiff was passed by the House in January but faces an almost guaranteed veto from the White House.
The Fairness in Class Action Litigation and Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency Act of 2016 faces a number of challenges, the first of which would be Senate blockage of the bill. Even with a Republican-controlled Senate, President Obama “is never going to sign any bill that would crimp the earning capacity of the plaintiffs bar,” Darren McKinney, spokesman for the American Tort Reform Association, told Legal News Line in a recent interview about the bill.
Noting that Democrats receive much of their support from labor unions and plaintiffs attorneys, McKinney argued that virtually no Democrat is likely to support tort reform bills. Passing such a bill would require Republicans to control both houses of Congress and the White House. Without the White House, the bill would need a veto-proof majority in the House and Senate.
Democrats were joined by 16 House Republicans in voting against the bill.
Presidential contenders Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich appear to sympathize with the tort reform group’s position, McKinney said, but the group has not endorsed a candidate. He was uncertain on how Donald Trump would affect tort reform.
“Trump has been a businessman, and he’s certainly been involved in his share of litigation,” McKinney said. “He’s been targeted by any number of less-than-righteous lawsuits.” — Joana Suleiman
