Let's reward those who do nothing

I have a student who hasn't done anything since October. He does write his name on the paper - but that's it. Since I grade hard - and know that I do - I have built in grades that allow the students to copy off the board and come close to passing, so they don't give up. Had this student done that, he'd be passing going into the final.

Instead, he sits there and tells me he hates school, his teachers wouldn't teach him, he doesn't understand - but he won't even copy the answers off the board.

I just told his mother that if he passes my exam tomorrow, I will pass him for the semester. I will even put that in writing and hand it to him when he comes in. What I didn't tell her is I am already planning on curving the grades (49 problems, 1 point each). All he has to do is answer 19 problems correctly - and we have done 24 of them in class this week.

We'll see what he gets. Guess I have to do this for about a half dozen others. But if I know (and I do) that I will be recovering the grades anyway, I may as well.