Unfortunately, the administration at the University of Prince Edward Island didn't look kindly on professor David Weale's attempt to sort students without coming to class.
He was recently fired after offering students a mark of 70% if they dropped the class;
Weale said his offer was an effort to deal with chronic overcrowding in classrooms, weeding out students who weren't really interested in his course.Read the whole thing here.
I've got to admit that I've thought of doing the same thing, particularly this semester - my classes are filed to overflowing. It might be an efficient solution - a student who'd take the deal and settle for a "C" probably wouldn't be one of the most motivated, high performing students in the class in any event. If they stayed in the class, they'd just end up damping down the enthusiasm of everyone else.
So, while it might be "selling out", you could look at it as paying a student off for the good of the rest of the class.
But, I'll wait until I'm tenured...
HT: Worthwhile Canadian Initiative