As a result, some participants are spending portions of their work week in the classroom rather than on the job, and are still being paid their full wages.

City officials also are requiring some participants to attend traditional summer school - without compensation - to remain in the program. They are even rearranging work hours to make that possible.

"This is our way of saying: "Your first job is finishing school, and we want to help you do that,' " said Colleen Cummings, the city's director of employment and training. "We value education as much as employment."

The new academic components were put together in June, when it became clear that many Buffalo public school seniors - the number turned out to be more than 300 - would fail to graduate because they did not pass the state's Math A Regents exam or meet other academic requirements.

Prompted by a request from Mayor Anthony M. Masiello, Cummings - along with school officials and parent and community groups - made these last-minute changes in a federally funded jobs program:

Twenty-five young people who were initially assigned to five days a week of beautification duties - such as planting community gardens or removing graffiti - were instead assigned to work sites for three days and to classrooms the other two. They continue to receive $5.15 an hour for their six hours of afternoon academic work, and are also required to attend the school district's summer school program in the morning.

Three four-day-a-week tutorial classes in Math A were established for students who failed the exam last year and plan to take it again on Aug. 13. If they attend summer school in the morning and tutorials in the afternoon, and then take the Regents exam, those 30 students will receive $100 gift certificates to the Galleria Mall; they get the money regardless of whether they pass the exam.

Those two elements are small portions of a larger summer jobs program that serves 2,000 people, Cummings said.

Allen Pickens, who completed his senior year at Lafayette High School in June but twice failed the Math A exam, said the Monday-through-Thursday tutorial classes could be just what he needs to overcome that hurdle and earn a diploma.

"It's working well," said Pickens, who is also washing dishes at an Elmwood Avenue restaurant. "I'm understanding. They take the time to break the problems down."

Howard March Jr., who will begin his junior year at Hutchinson-Central Technical High School in September, said he signed up for the tutorial sessions in an effort to pass the math Regents exam after failing it twice.

He said the $100 gift certificate is a "good incentive," but not the reason he's spending much of his summer reviewing math.

"I've taken it so much I figured: Why not finish now?" said March, who plans to become a computer programmer. "Math is the basis of everything for the career I want to be in."

Last year, public controversy was sparked by a pilot program that paid Burgard Vocational High School students $5 an hour to study academic subjects, tour automotive facilities and work on vocational projects.

Masiello said the hourly wages and gift certificates are small pieces of a larger jobs program that has great potential.

"People can criticize me all they want," he said. "I think this is a very valuable investment of money and human equity because our future as a city is so tied to the academic success of our children. The participants are getting two-for-one - the ability to enhance their educational skills and to make some money."

Cummings said the 25 students combining work and studies are part of a "combination program" with closely monitored attendance requirements for summer school, work and tutorial sessions.

The Buffalo Public Schools worked closely with the city and community organizations to launch the new programs, and feel they can help students earn their diplomas without sacrificing badly-needed wages to support themselves or young children, said Rita Eisenbeis, director of community relations for the city schools.

"In an ideal world, no, we wouldn't pay for them to do this," she said. "But in the world we live in, where young people are struggling as single parents and so on, if we have to do this to encourage students to take part, I personally don't have a problem with it."