With Republicans reportedly losing faith in K-12 schools, principals are speaking out on how politicians can champion public education more than two years into COVID.
A week after researchers uncovered this sharply partisan drop in confidence, principals in a separate poll are urging policymakers to take immediate action on funding and professional development, among other important issues. “Principals are clear about what their schools need now from policymakers after overcoming new and growing challenges to sustain learning during crises of 2020-2021,” said L. Earl Franks, executive director of the National Association of Elementary School Principals, which released the poll as part of its “Leaders We Need Now” research series.
Principals are warning of “an immediate need to address high educator turnover, the mental health of students and staff, and the lack of professional learning opportunities that target the new demands on the profession and changing needs of their school communities,” Franks said. “Leaving these issues unaddressed—or even under-addressed—will have a negative ripple effect on education, the principal profession, and student outcomes.”
Here are five areas that principals hope policymakers will prioritize and act on in the coming months:
1. Principal pipelines and workforce incentives: High stress brought on by COVID will lead to turnover among principals and dissuade other educators from pursuing the position. Policymakers can fill this looming gap by providing incentives for teacher-leaders to enter the pipeline. Inadequate principal salaries—particularly considering how their responsibilities increased during the pandemic—may also result in more vacancies.
2. Testing and accountability: Principals believe school performance should be judged on a broader range of factors beyond testing, which they consider to be overemphasized—especially because tests don’t take social-emotional learning into account.
More from DA: How K-12 leaders can help principals overcome stress and resist burnout
3. Consulting administrators on principal and teacher PD: Principals are seeing a disconnect between their academic coursework and actual responsibilities, such as supporting new teachers. This highlights a need for on-the-job coaching and job-shadowing. Principals also say they need more training in crisis management and leading equitable schools.
4. Granting principals an audience: Principals would welcome school visits by policymakers seeking to better understand the day-to-day challenges of school leaders, giving them an up-close look at what those challenges are and thereby allowing them to make better-informed policy decisions and enact new legislation.
5. Funding and resources: Despite large increases in federal funding, principals are concerned they won’t be able to sustain long-term reforms, such as recruiting and retaining school-based mental health professionals.
NAESP’s “Leaders We Need Now” research series also looked at the changing role of principals and :
