Well-Paid Principals, Superintendents Form ‘Old Boys’ Club,’ Study Says : White Men Held to Dominate Top School Jobs

Well-paid white men make up the overwhelming majority of school principals and superintendents in the United States, even in inner-city districts with predominantly minority populations, a new nationwide study said Tuesday.

In a survey of more than 3,000 public school administrators, the National Center for Education Information found that overall, more than 95% of the superintendents and 76% of the principals are white males. In inner-city school districts, 58% of the superintendents and 60% of the principals are white males.

“The phrase ‘old boys’ club’ has true meaning when it comes to the administrators of our public schools,” said the $97,000 study, which was financed by the Education Department.

‘Common Knowledge’

C. Emily Feistritzer, who authored the study, called its findings unprecedented. “It’s common knowledge that it’s an old boys’ network,” she said in an interview, “but it’s never been documented to this extent.”

The findings fuel a longstanding debate over educational role models and whether minorities can be treated fairly in education systems run by white people. Many minorities, seeking more minority administrators, have argued that their children are disciplined disproportionately and that aptitude tests are biased against minorities.

“Generally, minority principals are more sensitive to the needs of minority students because they’ve experienced the kind of discrimination these kids have faced,” said Diane August, director of the education division of the Children’s Defense Fund.

Sends a Signal

Linda Wong, of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, agreed. She said that the predominance of white males in powerful school positions sends a signal to youngsters “about who is going to be successful in life, telling them: ‘You can only climb so far on the ladder of success.’ ”

But Milton Goldberg, director of educational reform programs at the Education Department, said parents are more interested in what administrators think than in what color they are. He also said the administrators “are not hiring each other; they’re hired by school boards that are made up of people who live and work in the community.”

August, however, pointed out that in many areas school boards are chosen through at-large elections, which dilute the voting strength of minorities.

Far Better Paid

The 96-page study found that school administrators tend to be far better paid than other college graduates and that more than half of the superintendents are earning at least $50,000 a year. A fifth of all college graduates earn that amount.

(Despite intense community lobbying for a minority, the Los Angeles school board chose a white male to fill a vacancy in the district superintendent’s office last year. Leonard Britton, formerly head of the Miami school district, was selected over a black and a Latino. He earns $141,000 a year.)

Administrators give their schools far better marks for performance than the public does, the study found. Eighty-seven percent of the superintendents and 75% of the principals said that schools in their communities had improved during the last five years, while 25% of the general public agreed with them.

The administrators were also out of step with the public on the volatile issues of busing and sex education. The public was twice as likely as superintendents and principals to favor busing as a way to achieve racial balance. And the survey showed that school administrators were more in favor of sex education than the public was.

‘Insular Group’

Feistritzer told a news conference that the group was rigidly opposed to outside influence. “It was surprising to me,” she said, “that 56% of the superintendents and principals in public schools actually want less federal involvement in improving their schools. We really do have a rather insular group of people.”

A change may be coming. The report said that about one-fourth of the superintendents and one-fifth of the principals plan to retire in the next five years.

Noting that the administrators belong to “an aging profession,” Sam Sava, executive director of the National Assn. of Elementary School Principals, said that his organization hopes to “bring in more women and minorities” because current ratios “do not represent enrollment in our schools.”