Comments about ‘Principal's role vital to academic success’

First big government (DC, Dept. of Education, NEA, UEA) advocates for more control, then the same people complain about how big a job it is. Are we supposed to feel bad that a principle has a tough job?

Well government is a top down organization, so taking lead from the whiner in chief makes sense.

The principal makes all the difference to a school. He/She has tremendous leeway in deciding the goals and direction of the school, who's on the faculty, etc. Truly the key to excellence is not money or curriculum or parents or even student demographic--it's the PRINCIPAL. We need to spend a lot of energy and effort on recruiting the very best.

hmmmm. Principals can certainly set the atmosphere at a school, but it's usually the teachers that keep the learning going. I have yet to see any principal be worth the huge jump in salary over the teachers.

Having a good principal makes a big difference in keeping teachers going strong. I once had a principal who had never taught a day in her life. Until I met her, I did not think that possible. In Utah, it is. She spent five years running the school into the ground. I was only there for the last year. Many good people had left, and learning had declined. Finally the district got rid of her by- you guessed it- promoting her to the district office.

It would be fine if principals were only paid slightly more than teachers it there are specific reasons like additional education requirements or time spent at extracurricular activities. But it is a shame that teachers - who have more contact with and more influence on students - can only get a decent salary (commensurate with the degree and certification requirements) if they leave the classroom to be administrators. In some cases, the farther removed from students, the higher the salary (superintendents, district administrators).