Being a principal is tough. Being a good principal is even harder. And Maine needs more of them. School districts can do something about the issue, but they will need backup from the Maine Legislature.
Addressing the “school leadership crisis” — as a legislatively appointed task force put it — should happen soon. Principals are second only to teachers in terms of how much they can influence how well students do in school. But too many are leaving their positions before their work can make a difference.
About half of Maine principals leave their position before five years, even though studies show it takes an average of five years before they can even fully apply new practices to improve staff and student performance.
That’s a big problem for school districts, which have to absorb the costs of finding and training someone new. But it’s primarily a problem for students: Frequent principal turnover can mean disruptions to curriculums and school turnaround efforts, a corresponding increase in teacher turnover, and declines in student academic growth.
There are policies that Maine legislators could pursue to help improve principal retention.
For instance, Maine could cover the costs for novice principals to have a mentor for their first couple years on the job. There are mentoring programs already available, but districts currently have to pay for them themselves. Most don’t.
Maine could also incentivize districts to work together to create “leadership academies,” where they offer training to current staff to become principals and make sure the lessons are connected to what’s going on locally. Principals are more likely to stay in their position for longer, and more likely to be accepted by the community, when they are a member of their community before they take the job.
But it’s unlikely the policies will get the support they need until more people value the work principals do.
Here are just a few statistics to consider: Maine principals oversaw an average of 407 students and 53 staff members each in 2011, the most ever recorded, according to the Maine Principal Study. Few businesses would find that employee-to-boss ratio acceptable.
That year principals also reported working an average of 70 hours per week, up from 56 hours in 1997, according to the study. It’s unsurprising that 39 percent said they “often wonder if the long hours are worth it,” and 65 percent reported that they struggled to balance their job with their family and personal life.
Then there are the many policy changes principals must keep up with: 45 percent said “priorities change too frequently for our school and staff to improve.”
Of course it’s part of a principal’s job to adapt and guide staff through complicated changes mandated by the Legislature. But as a matter of fairness, and to ensure those policies succeed, it only makes sense for legislators to pair those requirements with more support for school leaders. Not just principals, but students, too, depend on it.
Follow BDN Editorial & Opinion on Facebook for the latest opinions on the issues of the day in Maine.