A former student sends me this article on a summer "jobs" program in Washington DC:

Samantha Baskin gets paid to be patient. One of thousands of students across the District who had pay problems in the summer youth jobs program last week, Samantha, 14, said that she doesn't actually do anything at the Washington East of the River Academy.

"We don't do nothing," she said. The director "holds us in a room for hours."

Although she was owed several hundred dollars, Samantha was paid a nickel Friday and was finally paid in full yesterday.

Pay problems are just one of the administrative issues in the D.C. summer youth jobs program, as was apparent at a news conference yesterday at the academy.

In interviews, many students echoed Samantha's complaint, saying they were spending their days sitting silently in classrooms.

Students are supposed to be doing arts programs, such as jewelry-making, painting and singing in a choir, [summer academy director Dianna] Robinson said, as well as learning such "life skills" as job readiness.

Robinson said she was excited about the remaining 4 1/2 weeks, now that everyone has been registered. But she did not think the first month had been a waste.

"Some of these 14-year-olds are the only ones earning a salary in a three-generation household," Robinson said. "If that means sitting in a hot auditorium, then I'm okay with that."

Just a hunch, but I bet some of the adults in three-generation households who are not earning salaries might have picked up a few of their "life skills" and "job readiness" in previous summer "jobs" programs.