The Principals Are the Key

As the new reform-minded Los Angeles school board demands greater accountability throughout the system, it is up to Supt. Ruben Zacarias to get the message out to principals. They must lead.

In his annual back-to-school speech, scheduled Monday, the superintendent needs to challenge principals to raise expectations for teachers, help those teachers who are not performing well and, finally, get those who continue to do a poor job out of the classroom.

Many principals are reluctant to document teacher failures because of the time it takes, made longer by strong teachers union protections. The district has 32,000 teachers, including 5,000 holding emergency credentials. Only two or three tenured teachers were dismissed for unsatisfactory performance last school year. Any organization of that size would certainly have unsuitable employees in the hundreds.

Principals also complain that they lack the authority to do their job. In the L.A. district, teachers have the right to pick their assignment on the basis of seniority. Real reform will require the school board, when it negotiates with the teachers union, to restore principals’ authority to assign teachers.

Even within current rules, principals can aggressively encourage teachers to take the grade or class where can they do the greatest good--or sometimes the least harm. Strong principals can bring out the best in teachers by setting high standards, requiring lesson plans and spending time in classrooms observing teachers. They figure out how to recruit good teachers and support them. They monitor student achievement and pay attention to instruction and curriculum. They find a way to get the resources their teachers and students need and they do not give up.

Running a school is tough. Turning around a low-performing school is even tougher, one reason why applications for principal are declining in Los Angeles and nationwide. Zacarias, a former principal himself, knows that he must demand more from everyone, especially principals, but also back employees to the hilt when they do their jobs right. He is running out of time for delivering results.