Voting for principals

Principals of our local schools are good people who try to do good things for their students. However, sometimes a principal can become disconnected from the parents of his/her students. When parents ask for choice in education, often they are saying they would like to see principals more responsive to parents' opinions.

It could be as simple as parents wanting a certain track (year round school) to match better with friend's schedules. Whatever may be the parents' reasons, often parents want to feel their principal considers their concerns.

Why is it we either approve or disapprove of our local judges when we go to our voting booths, but we don't have a say in our school principals? If it is important to approve of our judges, isn't it more important to approve of our children's principals? Wouldn't it affect a principal's attitude towards parents if he/she knew the parents would be visiting a local voting booth to approve of the principal's performance?

I wouldn't expect this would ever result in the removal of a principal — but I do feel this would alleviate some of the "powerless" feeling many parents might have when dealing with principals.

Jim Barnes

South Jordan