3) School Administration Needs to be Reformed

Of course there are notable exceptions, and to be certain, most all school administrators are decent people, but there is a dearth of good educational leadership.

In my experience, principals are not hired for their pedagogical understanding, but for their willingness to be compliant to the authority of central office. Those who prove to be the most compliant ascend to mid-level management and develop a penchant for pushing paper, exerting power over their former colleagues and ushering in the latest educational trend. Few have any defined educational vision that goes beyond the most basic understanding of how learning works. Superintendents are usually too far removed from the realities of the classroom. In my 27 years of teaching I don’t think I would need two hands to count the number of times a local school board member or school administrator (other then a principal) visited my classroom or has come to an academic function.

It might be a surprise to Alaskans, but every one of our districts has a relatively fair mechanism in place to remove incompetent teachers – even tenured teachers. Principals can identify ineffective educators and put them on needs-improvement plan that then guides a struggling teacher towards success in the classroom. If a teacher on a needs-improvement plan does not demonstrate acceptable growth, they then can be fired. While most anyone can identify a problem teacher, few principals are capable of actually devising a sound plan of improvement so those few teachers who need help rarely are given it.