I'm guessing you're right; it is supposed to be paired with school grants, but still, more of that money is going straight to the kids. My worry about the grant for education only is that it's both less of an incentive to the kids and often just means that you lose X amount of financial aid a college would have given. I know I used all the academic prize money I won (plus money from 2 summers of picking up trash at the county fair) to go backpacking in Europe the summer after high school, and that was definitely educational in a different way.

Your mention of your family background makes certain things click; I've often thought, "KidCthulhu seems like someone who had to learn to be responsible at an early age."