“You will be a great leader.” The principal said while I was sitting in the teacher’s office. He had just approved my participation in the Teacher Leadership Program.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I have never felt comfortable in the principal's office, and this was no exception.
“And as you know, we really need a new principal.”
by wePrincipal meant the Ministry of Education; necessary, he was referring to the recent mass exodus of school administrators in the state of Hawaii. Not only is our state struggling with a teacher shortage, but the mass exodus of administrators has left our schools short of qualified leadership. In response to this worrying trend, Hawaii Governor Josh Green recently approved a plan to change the position of assistant principal from a 10-month employee to a year-round employee and incentivize the administrative role with a 20 percent pay increase.
Hawaii's program is doubling down on providing leadership training and resources to attract new talent to principalships and administrative roles. But I'm still not sure if that's enough for me to want to be a principal.
Compare pros and cons
After working as a teacher for almost 20 years, I have been thinking about other ways to contribute to the field of education outside of the classroom. Working with prospective teachers at the college level or becoming a professional development provider is an exciting option. But my mind keeps thinking about school administration.
Over the years, I have been humbled and inspired by the outstanding work our principals and other administrators do in our schools. I feel honored to work with and learn from these amazing role models, and am deeply grateful for their leadership, vision, and unwavering encouragement. I want to be the kind of leader they were for me, and part of me feels I need to honor their mentorship by becoming a school leader.
As I considered whether to pursue a path toward principalship, I paid close attention to what that job entailed. Unfortunately, my conversations and observations did little to build my confidence. On the contrary, from what I have seen and heard over the past five years, it seems unlikely that there is anyone who can actually fulfill the responsibilities placed on the shoulders of a principal on any given day.
Based on my observations and conversations with friends and colleagues who are principals, here are some of the things a principal should do on any given day:
- When cafeteria staff are short, ladle out spoonfuls of spaghetti to hungry students.
- Monitor packs of aggressive dogs roaming campus until animal control arrives.
- If the public health center calls you sick, the health center will place an ice pack on you and measure your temperature.
- Observe the trauma in the eyes of a teacher who was told to “run, hide, fight” during an active-shooter training presentation by local law enforcement. and,
- Please make a personal call to all staff members to share the tragic news of the death of a beloved member of the school community.
With the daily responsibilities of having a person be a nurse, psychologist, interventionist, cheerleader, sous chef, and animal caretaker, it's no surprise that schools across the country have more administrative positions becoming vacant every day. The lack of strong school leadership is not just a school problem, it is everyone's problem. Students need well-supported teachers, and teachers need strong principals to support them. When leadership is at stake, everyone suffers.
Despite knowing all this, I am still reluctant to take on the lead role. The current climate of distrust in administrators, a polarized political environment, and poor work-life balance make the prospect of becoming a principal unattractive.
Need a better solution
After much thought and reflection, I realized that the problems plaguing school leadership were a small part of the larger context of undervalued and underfunded schools. These problems cannot be solved with conflict resolution workshops, self-care days, or pay raises. These problems require large-scale, systemic change. Here are some things I, and maybe others like me, need to change to consider pursuing a leading role:
- Political leaders must demonstrate openness to the ideas of others to reopen civil debate in our communities and schools. When prominent politicians publicly flout established codes of conduct in favor of personal attacks, it normalizes the bullying behavior that educators desperately want to eradicate from schools and communities. Additionally, routine disregard for existing norms for public behavior reduces opportunities to safely share differences of opinion. This atmosphere of disrespect is deeply felt by school leaders and principals who are in a unique position to listen to and respond to the opinions of their school communities.
- Allocating more funding from policymakers to adequately support schools in the roles they need to function. Teachers often talk about how they help their students succeed by making sure they have the right supplies and materials to succeed in school. The principal's current situation is a perfect counterexample. Without sufficient funds, you are essentially setting yourself up for failure.
- It is an input system that protects managers from becoming embroiled in partisan issues. When I imagine myself becoming a principal, I honestly worry about the hostility directed at me because of controversial issues. In this heated political climate, principals who oppose book bans and curriculum wars can put themselves and their families in a dangerous position. There must be a system in place to reduce the likelihood that a meeting will become so divisive that speakers cannot be heard due to booing and yelling. Luckily, the state of Hawaii has largely stayed out of the fray, but I fear what lies ahead ahead of the upcoming election year.
Lack of school leadership is a huge problem that needs better solutions. I realized that it was not a shortage of principals, but a shortage of qualified individuals willing and able to work under the current circumstances facing school leaders. There are so many challenges that principals face every day that they should not be left to solve them alone.
Choosing to become a principal in my current situation is almost like I am deliberately putting myself in a position where I could be harmful to myself and my family. My heart is invested in serving public education, but I cannot ignore the risks that outweigh the benefits.