According to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, only two of 17 of South Kitsap School District schools and programs met Adequate Yearly Progress goals in reading and math proficiency.

As required by No Child Left Behind, or NCLB, Washington state has developed a system to measure whether schools, school districts and the state as a whole have made Adequate Yearly Progress in reading and mathematics achievement. The system is designed to ensure that all public school students in grades 3-8 and 10 are assessed; all student groups reach the state’s proficiency level by 2013-14; and schools and districts that do not meet the state’s adequate yearly progress requirements are identified as needing improvement.

Those passing: Olalla Elementary School and Madrona Heights Preschool Program.

Some educators in other districts say there is some confusion about what “failing” letters mean for their child’s school and for their child.

That confusion subsides when parents look a little closer: If 100 percent of students don’t meet state-drafted standards, the entire school flunks, triggering the failure letters and other steps.

And consider that three district schools earned OSPI Washington Achievement Awards in 2013. East Port Orchard Elementary School was recognized in overall general excellence and science, while Burley-Glenwood Elementary was awarded for overall general excellence and Sidney Glen Elementary School was awarded in math.

Last year, Burley-Glenwood Elementary was one of 12 state schools honored for winning national awards given through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The awards recognize schools that met the federal Adequate Yearly Progress and Annual Measurable Objectives standards in reading and/or math, as well as closing the opportunity gaps between white students and traditionally underrepresented students. Burley-Greenwood was honored as one of three State Title 1 Distinguished Schools.

Here’s the hitch: Earlier this year, Washington became the first state in the nation to have its conditional waiver of No Child Left Behind denied. The problem was that Olympia wouldn’t tie teacher evaluations to student testing.

It’s more nuanced than a teachers’ union uprising against a culture of standardized testing. The required use of poorly vetted tests to measure student achievement and linking those results to teacher performance is unworkable over the short term, however much of it creates the illusion of accountability.

“There is widespread acknowledgment that NCLB isn’t working,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn said at the time. “Congress has failed to change the law at the federal level, so states are forced to come up with workarounds.”

Because of the waiver denial, $40 million the state receives from the feds will be freighted with restrictions. The Everett School District, for example, will be forced to set aside 20 percent of its Title I budget to bus students in failing schools to non-failing ones and to provide private tutors for struggling students. Money falls away as disadvantaged children get slammed the hardest.

There’s a simple, two-part remedy: On the state level, fully fund education as the McCleary decision requires. And on the federal level, change NCLB.