Not a Great Job But a Wonderful Calling

School Administrator, June, 2000 by Paul D. Houston

A silent crisis is building in school leadership. At a time when the demands of our society for improving education and the needs of our children cry out for leadership, the leadership ship is being abandoned.

Recent studies conducted on behalf of AASA have concluded a shortage of school superintendents is looming. Studies by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the National Association of Elementary School Principals have shown a similar problem for school site leaders.

Two questions beg for answers--why and what do we do about it?

An Easy Target

The answer to the first is easy. It has to do with the perils of the job. School leaders often find themselves the brunt of unfair criticism that is played out in highly public arenas. They are held responsible when things go wrong and they are being asked to lead at a time when a lack of consensus prevails over where people want to go.

Further, school leaders find the jobs leave little time or energy for personal lives, and the pay doesn't match the expectations. But I think increasingly we will find one additional reason that stems from the issues of accountability and authority.

In education, responsibility is centralized, but authority is dispersed. When something goes wrong or answers are needed, the questions are aimed at the school leader. Yet there are many players in education with a slice of the power pie. Teacher unions dictate rules and working conditions. School boards set policy. Increasingly, governors and legislators create mandates and lay down expectations. Judges limit latitude. And the community, parents and the students feel they have a legitimate right to spell out expectations while they set limits to collaboration.

With the advent of the accountability movement things have gotten even more complicated. Now schools and districts must meet state standards or face dire consequences. Those standards are created outside the leader's purview and leaders rarely are given the necessary resources or latitude to do the job. This leads to the conclusion that accountability without authority is merely punishment.

Is it any wonder that folks are choosing early retirement or deciding to stay in a mid-level job rather than take on the perils of leadership? This has led me to observe that anyone who seeks out a school leader's job because they are looking for a good job needs serious career counseling. They are not great jobs, but they are a wonderful calling. In essence, the role of school leader is a mission--not an impossible mission, but a very difficult and sacred one.

What should be done? First, we must focus on the possibilities of the missionary work. It involves saving children, creating community and transforming institutions and that is a powerful calling. School leaders do some of the most dangerous and spiritually rewarding work.

Further, four factors must be addressed. The preparation for the work is inadequate, the role impossible, the pipeline inverted and the purpose inappropriate.

The current preparation for leadership that involves dealing with the managerial aspects of the role is unsatisfactory. Leadership in today's environment is a real white-water experience and people need to be given the skills to navigate the environment. That means today's leaders must be reflective practitioners who are able to deal with dilemmas.

Tomorrow's leaders must be true leaders of learning who model and understand better than anyone else in the organization the needs of the learner and who can construct programs and models to get the children to the goal. They also have to stay in place long enough to make it happen.

This leads to the second need, which is to restructure the role. It may be time for us to recognize that many of our larger and more complex districts and schools may require more than one person to play the role. Rather than having a supreme commander who heads up a staff, it may require co-principals or cosuperintendents--each carrying distinct responsibilities. This structure would create, in essence, a "provost of learning" to go along with the superintendent of schools. Such a division would make the job more doable, get at the core mission of learning and be more attractive.

Personal Balance

The third issue, is the current pipeline. While there is a shortage of leaders, there is no shortage of certified administrators. It is just that those who aren't willing to do the job clog the pipeline. About two-thirds of the people working at the district level are women, for whom the balance-of-life question looms very large. Obviously, some glass ceilings remain at work, but for many women they just aren't interested in a job that leaves little personal time.

Creating a job that is realistic and focuses on children should be much more attractive to these leaders waiting in the wings. Current leaders must do their part by tapping these people and encouraging their development. We have to move from depending on the "wannabe" leaders to creating a generation of "ought-to-be" leaders.