On Monday, September 24, 2007, the members of the NYC Student Union unanimously voted in favor of a resolution stating: “While the NYC Student Union acknowledges the good intentions and possible benefits of Opportunity NYC, the plan, as it stands now, is too problematic.” Many students expressed their dissatisfaction with the plan, which pays low-income students for high standardized test scores, prior to the vote. “It insults hard- working, low- income students by conveying the message that they could not possibly value education in itself and must need some sort of incentive in order to perform better in school.” Said Laura Johnson, 17. Some students feared that the program could have the potential to distance students from their schools and create tensions between students who are getting paid and students who aren’t. On the NYC Students Blog, Hasanur Rahman, 16 wrote: “a student that tries to earn the money but barely misses the cut off score to earn the money will only become frustrated and give up.” Furthermore, Shauna Fitzgerald, 15, added, “[Opportunity NYC] propagates the test prep culture and detracts from other important aspects of education.” This culture is a large factor in student apathy in our high schools. Still, the NYC Student Union refrained from condemning the spirit of the program outright. “It’s nice to know that the City is coming up with new and creative ways to help New York City public school students,” said Ashu Kapoor, 17. However, the members of the NYC Student Union felt that this program had too much baggage. “The cash being used in this program could better be used to solve citywide problems affecting all students like class size and school resources” concluded Ben Shanahan, 15.