In the last few weeks there has been a plethora of education news floating around the ether. WASL scores returned, SAT averages are up, and schools are failing to meet AYP.

Besides the fact that it practically takes a special dictionary to understand the various acronyms used in schools today, there seems to be a feeling that local schools are somehow failing local children.

The question is whether or not this is actually true, and what measurement is used to answer that question.

It is difficult to argue that the education system in Washington isn’t broken. Teachers are underpaid and overworked in districts which every year find fewer and fewer dollars to educate a greater number of students. But when it comes to testing and determining which schools are better than others and why, things get murky.

Traditionally, standardized testing has played a role in measuring how students are doing, as a way to help teachers and district’s pinpoint where problem areas are. Many have agreed to disagree on how effective those tests are and if they should be a focus in the classroom.

Under the No Child Left Behind Act those testing scores are used to determine if America’s children are learning enough. Should it be determined by an extensive and complex math equation involving a variety of factors, that a district isn’t performing well enough, any school failing to meet those standards will find themselves essentially on the naughty list.

Supposedly, after several years of continuing to not make standards, sanctions are handed down, with the ultimate being a change in leadership.

However, as district’s locally found out this summer, despite amazing state test scores, well above state averages, they find themselves on that naughty list. Locally, a school which was on the short list for receiving prestigious national honor was added to the list of schools not making enough progress because a small segment of students who need extra help didn’t preform at the same level as their peers. Usually students who are in those programs are there because they did not previously hit the same marks as their classmates.

It’s a catch-22 for districts which are looking to help each student achieve their goal of a diploma. Some students need more help getting there than others. Students in special education programs or programs helping students learning English for the first time should not be compared testing-wise on the same level as their peers. Obviously, if those students were at the same level as their peers those programs would not be necessary.

No Child Left Behind has a great goal of making sure America’s children are ready to be active and educated members of society later in their lives, but punishing individual districts and schools because they didn’t increase on their average test score from the year before makes little sense. Eventually, no matter how hard teachers, districts and students try, they will fall behind on the statistical curve AYP lays out.

Perhaps it would make more sense to focus on getting students the help they need to achieve an education that will be beneficial to them, rather than pushing for a 2 percent testing score increase in order to avoid a government sanction.

Yes, students in Washington need to be competitive compared to other kids across the country and the world, as one day they will be competing for the same jobs. But what is the value of spending more valuable classroom time teaching how to take a test?

The real twist is that except by AYP standards, local schools are pretty amazing. Students in Issaquah average WASL scores 20 percent higher across the board compared to the state average.

While no system is perfect, compared to many others in the state and country, students locally do receive a top-notch education.

So in what world does it make sense to punish a school with this kind of record?

If the state superintendent is calling out these results then maybe its time for the new presidential administration to make changing NCLB their next priority — right after the magic wand fixes our health care system.