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More feds or less feds? The battle over the federal role in K-12 heats up
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With Republicans still struggling to revise the embattled No Child Left Behind law, advocates on both sides are again sparring over the federal role in K-12 education. - photo by Eric Schulzke
With Republicans still struggling to revise the embattled No Child Left Behind law, advocates on both sides are again sparring over the federal role in K-12 education. One month ago, it appeared the House was poised to revise NCLB, which was first passed in 2002 and now is long overdue for overhaul.

But then the gear stuck, as conservatives, moderates and liberals could not reach a consensus on whether to allow states to opt out of federal demands created by the law.

"If every child is going to receive a quality education, then we need to place less faith in the Secretary of Education and more faith in parents, teachers, and state and local leaders," House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.), said, as reported in The Hill.

But Democrats argued that greater state and local discretion would mean falling standards and fewer resources in disadvantaged communities. "As a result, Congress has a longstanding policy to target our limited federal funding to schools and students who get left behind in an unequal system," said Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), as reported in The Hill.

This weekend, presumptive GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush took to the Washington Post to argue for greater state flexibility.

"The federal governments role in elementary and secondary education should be limited," Bush wrote in his op-ed. "It should work to create transparency so that parents can see how their local schools measure up; it should support policies that have a proven record; and it should make sure states cant ignore students who need extra help. Thats it."

Education is a dicey area for Bush. As governor of Florida, he was at the forefront of the accountabilty and testing movement that became the blueprint for federal policy over the past decade, as Education Week noted in 2010.

In the opposite corner this weekend was Peter Cunningham, who argues at Real Clear Education that states cannot be trusted to follow through with rigor and reforms. Cunningham is the executive director of Education Post and a former assistant Secretary of Education in the Obama administration.

The highest performing countries America competes with on education all have highly centralized education systems, Cunningham argues. He calls for a much, much larger federal investment in K-12 education, enough to overwhelm the class differences in education funding that create enormous education resource gaps between rich and poor.

"Leaving accountability solely to the states is a complete surrender to the status quo," Cunningham argues. "State and local elected officials wont adequately fund a system of accountability, administrators wont faithfully implement it, and teacher unions will relentlessly resist it. Pretending otherwise ignores both history and human nature."
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Groups hand out scholarships
RH theater scholarship
Richmond Hill High School senior Jacey Shanholtzer shows her Dawn Harrington Berry Spotlight Award, which was awarded by the Richmond Hill Community Theatre and includes a $500 scholarship. With her are Tom Harris, Ashlee Farris, Brett Berry and Kim Diebold. The award was created in memory of Dawn Harrington Berry, a long time RHCT member and president who died in 2016. - photo by Photo provided.

Three reports recently presented scholarships

Richmond Hill High School senior Jacey Shanholtzer received the Dawn Harrington Berry Spotlight Award, which was awarded by the Richmond Hill Community Theatre and includes a $500 scholarship. The award was created in memory of Dawn Harrington Berry, a long time RHCT member and president who died in 2016.

Garden Club

The Richmond Hill Garden Club recently awarded a $1,000 scholarship to Katherine Wood and a $500 scholarship to Carly Vargas, both seniors graduating from Richmond Hill High School.

The awards were presented May 8 during Honors Night at RHHS.

Wood plans to attend Green Mountain College in Vermont and major in environmental studies.

Vargas plans to attend Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee, to pursue a degree in either environmental studies or biology.

The garden club awards a $1,000 scholarship annually to a local high school senior who plans to major in a field related to environmental concerns, plants and/or gardening.

This year, due to having two exceptional candidates, the garden club awarded an additional $500 scholarship.

Exchange Club

The Exchange Club of Richmond Hill recently named Caroline Odom as its student of the year.

The club each month during the school year names a student of the month, and the student of the year is chosen from among those winners.

Awards are based on academic performance, community involvement and leadership.

Monthly winners receive $100, with the annual winner getting a $1,000 scholarship.

The Exchange Club has been recognizing students for more than 30 years.

Odom will go on to compete in the Georgia District Exchange Club against students from across the state.

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