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JUNE 2005

Teacher, Scholar, Manager, Entrepreneur?
Those Who Hire Principals Often Don’t Understand the Job

By Jill Levy, CSA President

Having been part of the public education system in New York City for 34 years, I find the question of who is leading our schools of paramount importance. Yet, no one has defined leadership as it applies to our schools.

Gone are the days when the titles automatically evoked status, knowledge and power. We no longer select superintendents of urban schools because of what they know about education, child development, teaching or learning. They come to us from the ranks of business, the armed services, political power structures and the legal profession —managers, not educators. Gone are the days of teacher innovation and creativity. Gone are the days when Principals were revered and respected as intellectual leaders. Gone, too, is the nation’s pride in urban public education.

By in large though, school principals still come from the ranks of educators. The selection of a principal is usually based on subjective criteria rather than on defined leadership skills and characteristics; thus, we have a national crisis of school leadership in which, too often, a school leader’s skills do not match the requirements of the standards movement, the needs of a particular school or school system.

Significant Partnerships

School leaders are no longer expected to simply maintain a level of learning that’s appropriate for their school or its special needs. Most of a principal’s time is spent managing the school. Yet, they are judged primarily on their students’ academic success, as demanded by the politicians, the media and the public.

Expected to be entrepreneurial in order to obtain necessary materials, funding and contacts for their students’ success, principals must forge significant partnerships with community organizations and corporations. This requires that they have the skills appropriate for a boardroom as well as the schoolroom.

And if managing a staff of hundreds and an ever-changing budget of millions were not enough, they are required to manage school leadership teams, provide encouragement and guidance to parent associations, address student medical and health needs, cope with transient students, students with special needs, students and parents who speak little or no English, maintain safety and security, implement dozens of monthly central office directives and ensure that federal and state education laws are upheld.

Remember, the Principal is not the CEO of the school. He or she is simply the middle manager in a system of rules, regulations and mandates from above.

Often, we select our Principals based on the fact that they are good teachers and classroom managers or because they have shown evidence of being superior teacher mentors. But there is a huge chasm between being a successful teacher and being an innovative school leader. Essential leadership skills, attitudes and characteristics are only considered if the applicant served in some other supervisory capacity.

Another flaw in the selection process is that the people doing the selecting often do not know how to judge the competence of an applicant for a principal’s position.

Would that we could turn back the clock and transform the education and certification of Principals! Would that we had created a supervisory and administrative license that tells us that future principals can manage a not-for-profit organization as well as understand and resolve conflict, handle sensitive cultural needs, understand the law as it applies to their profession and communicate with numerous constituencies as well as advocate for children and educate them.

A Prestigious Job Once-Upon-A-Time

But the truth is, here in New York State, education is not even considered one of the “professions.” This too, must change. We require a license to cut hair and provide manicures, but not to run our schools. Peer review and continuing education credits are also essential if we are to hone the skills of school leaders and bring back the prestige and pride in this profession and our urban schools.

Once-upon-a-time, the Principal was revered in a school. It’s not too late to return to those times.#

Jill Levy is the President of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators.

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