Donated police car not best incentive

When the Jackson City Council meets this morning, members should reject the idea of donating an old police cruiser as an incentive for local high school students to stay in school and graduate. It's not that we have anything against providing incentives for students to finish high school. But this particular idea is a bad one for a number of reasons.
This idea originated as part of the anti-crime task force report, which urged Jackson-Madison County Schools Superintendent Dr. Nancy Zambito and her staff to come up with incentives to help kids stay in school. The idea was that many habitual criminals are high school dropouts who have trouble finding work.

Under this proposal, the city would donate the 1992 Ford Crown Victoria. Automotive students from South Side would refurbish it, and it would be given away to a graduating senior in a drawing later this year

The proposal projects the wrong image to students. Stay in school, we'll give you an old police car. This particular car has a lot of wear on it - it's got 160,000 rough and tumble police miles. And high performance police cars aren't exactly known for their good gas mileage. Most old police cars are sold for well under $1,000 and for good reason. It's not a very reassuring message to send to students.

Another problem is that it takes control away from parents. Giving a teenager a car is serious business, one parents often worry about and want to be able to control. Then there is a issue of who will pay for car insurance, maintenance and other expenses. The student, maybe, if he or she has a job. Otherwise, those responsibilities could fall to the parents.

If school officials want to encourage students to stay in school there are better ways to do that. Some school systems just pay students for their attendance. Or, perhaps if school officials want to give away a car, they could take the sale proceeds from the police car and solicit additional support from local car dealers and other businesses to purchase a newer, more fuel-efficient car, and also cover some of the insurance and maintenance costs.

Offering incentives to help ensure students graduate from high school is not a bad idea. But this one deserves more thought by school officials. Instead of donating the used police car, the City Council should offer the money from the sale of the car.

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