Islip Board of Education and Eastern Suffolk BOCES trustee Catherine M. Romano, along with other representatives of Eastern Suffolk BOCES, Bay Shore, Sayville, South Huntington and William Floyd school districts, recently joined a delegation from Suffolk County as well as representatives from more than 700 school board and state school boards association leaders from across the nation in Washington D.C. to advocate for strong public schools for all students as part of the National School Boards Association’s 2015 Advocacy Institute, held from Feb. 1-3.

Romano, NYSSBA Area 12 Director and ES BOCES trustee Fred Langstaff, Bay Shore trustee Mary Louise Cohen, Sayville Board President John Verdone, South Huntington trustee Ed Nitkewicz, William Floyd Board President Robert Vecchio and their Suffolk County colleagues participated in meetings with senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as Rep. Pete King and recently elected Sen. Lee Zeldin. Individual members also met with representatives Steve Israel and Kathleen Rice, and with Sen. Gillibrand's education aide.

With the 114th Congress now in full swing, the institute came at a pivotal time for school board members to hone their advocacy skills and use them on Capitol Hill to influence the outcome of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Act and affect legislation to ensure maximum local flexibility and decision-making for districts.

“We lobbied for positive reforms to federal educational mandates, a reduction of the federal footprint and restoration of local control and governance on education policies,” said the group.

Representing state school boards associations encompassing more than 90,000 local school board members throughout the United States, the NSBA takes a leading advocacy role in supporting equity and excellence in public education through school board leadership.