There are answers that resolve the difficult issues of a problem and there are answers that avoid the issues. School districts in Wisconsin face problems that a recent legislative proposal avoids. School superintendents are resigning and retiring at a faster rate than new superintendent candidates are being prepared for the job market. A proposed legislative fix is to eliminate the requirement that superintendents must be trained as educators and licensed by the DPI. Making the job available to a wider pool of non-educator candidates does not address the problems that cause a shortage of trained superintendents. This is a bad answer – superintendents are educators first and foremost. Address the issues that cause superintendents to resign or retire early; do not lessen the training that connects a superintendent with the instruction of children. Superintendents need to be educators.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel accurately reported the problem and the legislative proposal. “Over the past few years, the number district administrators leaving the job has nearly doubled. At the start of the 2022-23 school year, 107 of 421 Wisconsin public school districts had a different superintendent from the previous school year, with 65 of them in their first year, according to Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators executive director Jon Bales. This is in comparison to 66 changes in superintendents at the start of the 2021-22 school year.
Under current law, all school district administrators in Wisconsin, with the exception of Milwaukee Public Schools, are required to hold a license issued by the Department of Public Instruction. The proposed legislation by Stroebel and Wittke would create a similar exemption for the other 420 public school districts in the state.
‘(The bill) is just an attempt to help provide school districts the option of taking qualified people from candidate pools that they have available to them,’ said Wittke, a member of the Racine Unified School District Board from 2016-19.
‘We just look at it as trying to do things that bring more talent into the K-12 education system and allow talented people to realize the full extent of the expertise that they have,’ Wittke said. ‘(We want to) open up the talent pool and help districts out so they can choose the right person to run the district rather than someone who has a specific license.’”
The “heat in the kitchen”.
President Harry Truman gave us his direction for dealing with heated problems. “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” In a manner of speaking, that is what an increasing number of school superintendents are doing. After successfully preparing themselves for school district leadership, they abandon their job and/or career. While President Truman proclaimed himself to be heat resilient, he did not help us understand the issue of heat. Neither does the Stroebel/Wittke proposal.
The heat is not what it used to be.
Historic heat and current heat are not the same. In past decades the annual budget or a school referendum or the losing record of the high school football coach were hot school board items. Parents and residents physically attended a school board meeting, rose to speak to the board, heard each other, and awaited a board decision. Addressing the board was part of a process and the protocols for speaking with the board were honored. Heated arguments were made, and some excessive words were used but at the end of the process civility was honored.
In the era of new heat, we add vitriol. As crass indicators, the new heat can be measured by the decibels of yelling and the amount of spittle that is expelled. Old heat retained civility and new heat has little regard for self-regulation. Growing numbers of parents and residents attend physically or Zoom into board meetings and ignore the agenda and parliamentary process. In many instances, they grab the floor and do not relinquish it until the board gives them the decision they demand, or the meeting is abandoned in chaos. They leave the lectern to get into the faces of board members. They over shout those who disagree with their demands. The new heat is all about forcing board decisions to favor the demands made by the most vocal.
Superintendents are the school board’s lightening rod. The district administrator is the board’s executive officer and responsible for implementing the board’s policies. As the board’s executive, the superintendent also makes recommendations for board consideration. The superintendent is the point person on all issues thus is the lightening rod that attracts all the storm and fury when there is public disagreement with policy implementation or recommendations of new policies.
Within this tense environment, a recent study found that nearly 40 percent of superintendents reported being threatened or feeling threatened on the job. And 63 percent of superintendents reported feeling endangered about their mental health and well-being over the past two years.
But while superintendents are feeling the heat, policymakers are unable to accurately determine the impact of pressure on superintendents’ well-being, performance and willingness to stay on the job.’”
https://www.governing.com/education/why-are-so-many-school-superintendents-leaving-their-job
I served as a school superintendent for 15 years and was a school board president during the pandemic and write from experience.
New hot issues are about parenting and politics not schooling.
“Contributing to this tension are politically divisive issues that many school superintendents have had to navigate over the last three years, including the teaching of race, book bans and providing access to athletics and bathrooms for students who identify as transgender.”
https://www.governing.com/education/why-are-so-many-school-superintendents-leaving-their-job
The school board is legally authorized to govern local public education and nothing else. Too many parents and community residents today want the school board to resolve newly heated social and political topics that are not school issues. Unable to invoke policy at the national or state or municipal level, they turn to the grass roots government of school boards. Their purpose is to make local policies impose their perspective on everyone in the school district.
No quick fixes; just education.
Public education is public. Our state Constitution tells us what this means. Boards are publicly elected. Schools operate on public tax dollars. School enrollment is open to all in the public community. School policies and rules are public documents. All the business of the board except what the statutes allow to be confidential is a public record. The doors of a public school may be newly secured, but they are open to the public. Board meetings are open to public participation. These attributes are strengths of public education and are part of the solution to emerging struggles.
New stressors that are raised by some in the public must be resolved with the tools of public education – teaching and learning. This is why school superintendents must be trained and licensed educators. While elected board members speak for their constituents and their children, superintendents speak for education and the education of all children. At the board table in front of the public, the superintendent is a singular voice, and that voice must be informed by training and experience.
The superintendent uses teaching skills to prepare the board for the topics on its agenda. While open meeting laws prevent board members from discussing agenda items prior to meetings, they rely on the superintendent to teach them the background of the topic, the compelling reasons for the topic appearing on this agenda, and the pros and cons of the topic necessary for the board to make an informed decision. Few board members are trained educators. They need to be taught by the superintendent to think as educators.
Board members can represent all the traits and characteristics of children in a classroom. They are not often satisfied with the dictates of a CEO but want to know the why and what if of the topics they consider. Board members are adult education personified.
Trained superintendents also understand from their school life experiences that successful learning takes time and patience. Experience taught them that a difficult day for one lesson need not carry into the next day. Training tells them how to modify their instructional approach to ensure successful board learning.
Trained and experienced superintendents also know that once they have completed their pre-agenda education and presentation, the responsibility for the outcome is up to the board. It is out of the superintendent’s control. They know how to release their responsibility to the board.
Beyond teaching board members, superintendents also teach their administrative team, district employees, the community, and children.
Administrative team. The superintendent leads the central office staff, principals, directors, and department heads. On a line and staff chart, the superintendent is the person responsible for implementing all district programs. The faculty and school staff take their organizational direction from the admin team. A strong superintendent instructs all school leaders in the district vision, mission, and annual goals. His detailed explanation defines the exact performances required of team members for the district to meet its goals. Like strong teachers, he models and practices what he teaches and holds himself to the same assessments as his team.
District employees. An employee who knows the CEO of the organization knows the job he does, has observed the work he does, and understands how the job contributes to the organization feels connected to the organization. Superintendents who were principals and who were teachers have this background knowledge. They can speak directly with bus drivers, cleaners, cooks and servers, aides, and all faculty with understanding of the jobs they do. Conversely, superintendents without school training must rely on the reports of others to indirectly understand an employee’s work. Except for the largest urban school districts, superintendents who are educators have this essential in-school knowledge and it provides indispensable connections.
Community. The school community is a set of concentric circles. Faculty, staff, and children are in the core circle. Parents of school children are the second circle. The resident community is the third circle. Superintendents connect with some of the resident community in the comings and goings of personal living. Folks at the grocery and gas station see the superintendent frequently; most in the community do not. Residents know about the schools only from what they hear and read. For this reason alone, a superintendent must be a community educator who provides frequent, informative, and candid communications to all residents. Human interest stories matter, especially when they demonstrate that the superintendent knows the people-side of school. A superintendent forms public opinion about the schools by what he communicates.
Children. When I was an elementary student I knew my principal, Mrs. Phillips, and my school superintendent, Dr. Salsbury. I saw Mrs. Phillips almost every day, and I saw Dr. Salsbury’s name in letters to school parents. Both were real people to me, not just names. When they spoke, I listened.
When I was a superintendent with an office in the school’s main hallway, I saw the children of our school every day, and they saw me. I sat in their classrooms, ate in their cafeteria, and walked their halls. I considered the school my classroom and just like a teacher I was purposeful in what I said to children. It was my opportunity to learn from them to better shape their school experience. Every superintendent needs to get a “kid fix” frequently to remain personally connected with the most important people in the school.
The Big Duh!
If our legislator’s intent is to fill jobs, then any person can be a superintendent. If their intent is to ensure successful school leadership, then only trained school leaders are qualified to be a superintendent. As with many things in life, we will get what our legislators settle for. We hope they settle only for what is best for educating children.