Every year, Vermont’s Agency of Education reports staffing shortages to the federal government. This year the most pressing needs include math, science, foreign languages, educational technology, health, and principals.
Of those, the principal’s shoes may be hardest to fill—and keep filled. Between 16 and 23 percent of principals are replaced each year in Vermont. Some retire or choose to move on, but many are fired, especially if their schools do not pass muster under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
Ken Page loved being a principal. But now that he’s Director of the Vermont Principals Association, he understands why teachers have become reluctant to move up the career ladder.
“Because teachers look at it and say, you know, I’ve got seniority in the teaching I am doing and if I join the ranks of being a principal I could be out in four years and be out and looking for a job again,” Page said.
Principals are paid more than teachers but they put in longer hours. Many say they take the job to help improve classroom instruction, but get stuck in their offices coping with unforeseen crises—one minute, a broken septic system—the next, a weeping first grader.
Michelle Mathias earned her doctorate in educational leadership after a business career. She’s now Principal at Edmunds Elementary in Burlington. She says her job demands, above all, flexibility.
“You cannot be annoyed or flustered by the unknown because the unknown is coming at you all the time,” she explained.
Mathias appreciated early support from a mentor through a program mandated by state law for every new principal. Principals must also complete a 300-hour internship to be certified. Still, Mathias says, it’s a tough assignment.
“My view of being a principal is that my job is to make sure my teachers can do their jobs. That means that we keep controversy and strife out of the classrooms and out of the teachers’ lives as much as possible. We filter that for them.”
But such filtering can be stressful, and lead to burnout. Nationally, the average tenure of a school principal is 3 to 5 years—not enough time, experts lament, to change a school for the better.
In Vermont, some districts have changed principals every two or three years.
Amy Fowler is a new deputy commissioner in Vermont’s Agency of Education. Her official title is "Principal Assistant to the Secretary of Education, Education Quality." She says school boards and parents should show some patience, as principals climb a steep learning curve.
“That first year principal is learning a lot and gaining quite a bit of skill with a considerable investment from the supervisory union or the district in developing their skill set. And then if they don’t stay, the supervisory union or district is not reaping the benefit of that investment.”
A recent report by an educational foundation finds that “rapid principal turnover has significant negative effects on student achievement, largely through its effects on school culture.” Another links effective principals to higher student test scores.
So Fowler would like to see successful teachers given the training and encouragement to become principals, and promising principals rewarded for their hard work with long-term employment and community support.
Ken Page, of the Vermont Principals' Association, says when those puzzle pieces are in place, it's still a great way to make a difference for young people.
"People turn to the principalship and there's some respect in the job, and the fact that you can see a wide variety of kids--it's just terrific," he said.
Over the next year, Vermont's newest principals will put that theory to the test.
