The South Whidbey School District Board of Directors is continuing its pursuit of an amendment to the No Child Left Behind Act, also known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

The district is one of 154 across the state that are asking Congress to institute a change, believing the act to be ineffective and detrimental.

South Whidbey School District legislative representative Rocco Gianni recently made a trip to the nation’s capital — along with other representatives from Washington State school districts — to discuss the matter with lawmakers.

He discussed his trip at a board workshop on Feb. 11, noting that he had the opportunity to meet with representatives such as U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, both Washington Democrats; U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, a Republican from the Eighth Congressional District, and others.

Most representatives concurred that a change is needed in regard to the No Child Left Behind Act, according to Gianni.

One of the most prominent concerns, he said, is that the act unfairly penalizes school districts. The act creates a direct link between teacher effectiveness and students’ success on standardized tests, leading to schools incorrectly being labeled as “failing.”

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act was created in 1965, and was revised every five years until 2001. Since then, it has not been revised.

Superintendent Jo Moccia voiced her agreement with Gianni’s assertion that student test scores and teacher evaluations should not be directly linked.

Other legislative priorities include “reining in” the Department of Education, taking away school choice vouchers and reducing the number of school days spent on testing, Gianni said.

Gianni explained that the Department of Education should be “less punitive,” and more supportive of school districts.

In regard to testing, Gianni asserted that over-testing is ineffective and may do more harm than good.

“Most of the testing, the teachers don’t get a chance to discuss it with the kids,” he said. “It is more punitive. We want to enable kids and enable teachers to be able to work together and get something of value from the testing, not just test to test.”

Gianni said that there appeared to be a fair amount of consensus amongst representatives in this regard.

Pertaining to school choice vouchers, Gianni said that a family’s ability to opt out of certain schools and into others can create imbalance.

Elementary school principal Jeff Cravy noted that this choice is not usually available to students in districts like those on Whidbey due to the distance between them.

Gianni agreed, and added that it is more of a concern for larger school districts and more populous areas.

“Especially in school districts with a high free-and-reduced-lunch population, oftentimes what they get is brain drain,” said superintendent Jo Moccia. “Families who have the wherewithal to leave, leave.”

“They are left in a situation where they don’t have a heterogenous group of kids,” she added.

Gianni agreed, saying that when students opt out for “richer” schools, it leaves the less wealthy school systems “decimated.”

He added that when students opt for a different school, they take funding with them, thereby leaving their former — usually less well-funded — school with still fewer dollars.

The priority, however, is the re-authorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, Gianni said.

“There needs to be a change,” he said. “We want to bring that testing back to the states and have us in charge of what we do.”