D.C. Public Schools have borrowed a lot of ideas from New York City Public Schools since Mayor Adrian Fenty gained control of the system and handed the keys to Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Add one more to the list: paying students for academic achievement.

DCPS today announced its new cash incentive program, dubbed “Capital Gains”, aimed at middle school students. Students enrolled in select middle schools can earn money for things like attendance, behavior, homework completion and grades. This is only a pilot program, so not every middle school will participate at first.

The program was created by economist Roland Fryer of the Innovation Lab at Harvard University. Fryer already implemented a similar program, called “Spark”, in New York. Harvard will be footing the bill for half of the $2.7 million program, the other half coming from the District. Here’s how the announcement describes how it will work:

Schools will track student performance on several metrics through an online database, created specifically for the program, and will reward them with cash every two weeks. Money will be deposited into student bank accounts.

How much money? D.C. Wire says it’s up to $100 every two weeks, and that students will get debit cards linked to accounts that will be set up in a bank.

So, paying students for achievement: sending the wrong message, or hey, anything that works?