generally debit card rewards programs overwhelmingly suck.

That having been said, the best one I know of is the capital one decoupled debit (it's a debit card you can use with any checking account, not just capital one.) You need an invitation to sign up- and I'm pretty sure you need to be a capital one credit cardholder. $20 annual fee. I believe the cashback rate is between .75% and 1%.
More information here.

A cheaper but more painful option is the paypal debit card. I'm loathe to recommend this because paypal is a disaster of a company and I'd have severe fraud concerns, but it's free. Purchases go through your paypal account which pulls the money from your checking account via ACH. 1% cashback to ebay/paypal preferred rewards, no fees.

If you want miles there are a few options- i believe citi has an AA debit card, and BoA has a USAirways and an Alaska one. Chase has their United and Continental debit cards
All those cards are 1 mile for every $2 you spend, with an annual fee around $30. (there's also a premier AA debit card, annual fee ~$75 with 1 mile per dollar). You can also get a Citi ThankYou rewards debit card, if that program interests you- the TY card is 1 point for every $2 if you sign, and 1 point for every $3 if you use your PIN, and I think it's the only program that offers rewards for PIN purchases.