If APS principals are really so great ...

APS interim Supt Brad Winter wrote an opinion piece for the Journal this morning, link.

His opinion is; Principals are key to success at APS.

The headline illustrates the  unswerving belief that no matter what the problem is; no matter how bad the problem is, the solution is simply finding the right administrator.

There are schools in the APS whose principals are deservedly beloved and respected by their communities.  There are schools whose principals' efforts and energy played decisive roles in creating the only thing that has ever has really "fixed" a failing school; a saving synergy.

This post is not about principals with character and competence.  It is about a system that disrespects those men and women by enabling incompetence and corruption in some of their colleagues.

There were times when APS teachers regularly evaluated their site administrators.  The evaluations were meaningless; the evaluation forms were collected by the site administrator and then disappeared, but at least there was the pretense of subordinate evaluation of administrators.  No more.

Which begs a question; are teachers qualified to evaluate their principals?  Does their nearly 100,000 years of combined, ongoing teaching experience as APS teachers qualify them to tell good administration from bad?

It seems pretty clear that teachers would welcome the opportunity to evaluate administrators.

It seems just as clear that administrators (and school board members) would rather not be evaluated by teachers.

So why don't administrators (in general) want to be evaluated by teachers?

Any evaluation of administration, from vice-principals to superintendent, would include questions about their administration of district and site discipline policies.  Any evaluation that allowed teachers to comment candidly, forthrightly and honestly without fear of retaliation, would register their overwhelming dissatisfaction with the administration of APS and site discipline policies.

APS spinmeister Monica Armenta

If the truth were otherwise, the leadership of the APS would commission the survey and publish the results.

If the truth were otherwise, the Journal would run a story on it.

A great deal of energy and resources are being spent to identify teachers who cannot or will not do their jobs.  What about principals; the "keys to success"?

Why isn't more emphasis placed on identifying principals who cannot or will not do their jobs?

Why is no emphasis placed on identifying school board members who cannot or will not do their jobs?

The answer is that powerful people do not hold each other accountable to the same standards they establish and enforce upon everyone else.  And the powerless, by definition, haven't the power to evaluate and hold accountable, their principals and superintendents.

The simplest way to evade accountability over incompetence and corruption, is to gather no data.  The calamity that is student discipline in the APS, is manifest in the complete lack of data on student discipline, link.

The complicity of the Journal, KRQE, KOAT, KOB TV, and APS' million dollar a year public relations effort, is intended to effect the outcome of the school board election and their selection of the next half million dollar golden parachute recipient.  It is intolerable.

Somebody should do something.




photos Mark Bralley