http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/hbr/hbreditors/2009/07/paying_students_for_performanc.html

Paying Students for Performance: Should Kids Be Managed Like “Talent”?

I believe that the suggestion to compensate children for performance does not take into account a key characteristic of all compensation systems: They are all zero sum games. This means that the way some people ( talented or otherwise differentiated) are compensated more is by compensating others less. Otherwise compensation, worthy or not, is just an increase in costs. It is conceivable that some school districts might want to increase costs by introducing scholarships on merit; this has been happening for centuries. Claiming that this is right because companies also pay for talent is not necessary. Worse, it is wrong because the proposal is not accompanied by any suggestion on who will be compensated less and how will that be achieved. In other words the proposal is lacking in novelty and is teaching a wrong lesson.