Where Have All the Principals Gone?

That’s the odd title of an article in this month’s edition of Edutopia Magazine, which is a good, free read for anyone who’s interested in education. They argue that many are looking at the money that a principal makes and saying “No thanks, I’d rather stay in the classroom,” and that there could be a looming principal shortage.

I have a hard time believing that one.

In my school there are two people who have either gotten or are in the process of getting their administrative credential. District wide I know of at least five more who are going in that direction. Our school psych went to the annual Vice Principal’s conference over in Seattle and from the sound of it resumes fly around like ticker tape at a parade.

At our budget meeting my superintendent talked about how they have a hard time getting qualified applicants to be principals, but I’ve never heard of a district slowing down its hiring process because they couldn’t find someone. I’ll happily concede that it’s a tough, tough job that I don’t want to do, but a shortage? Meh.

And I probably shouldn’t discount the idea of going into administration so quickly. I’m finding more and more that there’s only a certain amount of change that I can effect as a classroom teacher; the thought of being the guy who called the shots has quite a bit of appeal to it, really. I’ve had people ask me before if I was going into administration (“Because the men always go into administration!” is what our counselor told me once), but the time isn’t right. If I did decide to start a program and get the credential it wouldn’t be until after we negotiate the next contract, because it could be perceived as a conflict of interest for someone to be negotiating for teachers when he really wants to be on the other side of the table.

The joy of being young and having choices.