Promotion

Promotion to an administrative position as a reason for leaving the teaching profession is a rare case as far as Teacher Corps goes.  Only a handful of our teachers, so far, have gone on to become school administrators.  Hopefully, that will change in the next few years with the start of the Mississippi Principal Corps.  The Principal Coprs (MPC) is scheduled to begin in June of 2009.

While promotion may be rare in the case of MTC participants it is quite common in the K-12 field as a whole.  The state of Mississippi requires that a public school administrator have at least three years of experience as a teacher.  While it can certainly be beneficial for a school principal to have teaching experience this policy creates two distinct problems:

1)  A good teacher is taken out of the classroom.  A school principal, by law, has to make more money than the most veteran teacher on staff.  So, there is an economic incentive (slight as it is) to become an administrator.  An outstanding teacher desires to earn more money, becomes certified in administration, and is promoted (or hired by another school district) to become an administrator, thus leaving his or her classroom with a poor replacement.  Often, the thinking by the school board is that Mr. Smith made a good teacher so he will make a good principal.  However, the skills of a good principal and the skills of a good teacher are not necessarily the same (although organization is the most important skill in each position).

2)  A poor principal is put in the office.  A good teacher does not a good principal make.  Often the most important skill a principal possesses is that of being able to successfully navigate school board and district office politics.  School administrator is a political position.  Unfortunately, the primary skill of being a politician (collecting and delivering favors) doesn't translate into good management of a school.  A good school principal must be focused on the students of the school (in action, not just in words).  However, for a principal to survive, he or she must be able to please the superintendent and school board (usually backed by powerful parents in the community), who may or may not have the best interest of the students at heart.  In that "choice" the school board, superintendent, and powerful parents, will always win out...