Why Be a Principal?

Charlene Milota, vice-principal in a Spokane school and President of the Association of Washington School Principals, wrote her final column for the AWSP’s thrice-yearly magazine in the most recent issue. In it she shares her top ten reasons to become a principal:

10) Every day is a surprise.
9) Become a lifelong learner by observing great teachers.
8) Build the kind of school climate you would want to teach and learn in.
7) Support disenfranchised kids—be the constant as kids move from teacher to teacher.
6) Where else can you feel like a rock star while grocery shopping?
5) Hire, mentor and support your team of teachers and support staff.
4) Attend world class sports, music, and drama events—FOR FREE!
3) Play a significant community role by positively influencing parents and others.
2) Impact student’s lives, one child at a time.

And the number on reason to become a principal:

1) Someone believes in you!

This is nice, but as someone looking to enter that job market I need to narrow the field and would like to scare off as many fellow wannabe principals as I can. To that end, I give you

The Top 10 Reasons NOT to Become a Principal
10) Every day is a surprise. Pearl Harbor was a surprise, too.

9) Become a lifelong cynic by observing terrible teachers and not having the power to do anything about it.

8) Work in the kind of school climate that makes Office Space look like Google.

7) Be the constant as kids move from teacher to teacher, so when They start wondering why the test scores are low They can fire the constant—you.

6) Where else can you develop the patience of Job while sitting in on your 5th meeting of the day?

5) Hire, mentor, support, evaluate, remediate, disaggregate, contemplate, and finally defenestrate your team of teachers and support staff.

4) Attend world-class sports, music, and drama events—frequently. If you’re in the high school, nightly. You’ll also be criticized for the ones you fail to attend.

3) Play a significant role in community gossip circles after you make what seemed like a simple, innocuous decision…until it blew up in your face.

2) Have your life impacted, 600 students and 40 staff members at a time.

And the number one reason NOT to become a principal…..

1) Someone might believe in you, but that’s not a measurable quantity under No Child Left Behind.

Have a happy day!!!~!