Critical Shortage of Principals Seen in L.A.

By LOUIS SAHAGUN

Aug. 27, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES EDUCATION WRITER

Faced with a shortage of principals, the Los Angeles Unified School District is calling on retired administrators to temporarily fill the top jobs at more than three dozen schools.

Two weeks before the start of the new school year, the district needs 31 elementary school principals and seven middle and high school principals, Supt. Roy Romer said.

District officials attribute the problem to retirements and the promotion of seasoned principals to administrative jobs.

Until permanent replacements can be hired, the interim principals will be expected to coordinate curriculum, develop and launch reform programs and implement a variety of policy changes during the critical first weeks of the new school year.

Eli Brent, president of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles union, said it’s risky for a school to begin the year without a permanent principal.

“We need strong principals in place when schools need them most,” he said. “Not people who don’t know how to organize a school, or who are without experience in dealing with parents, or who are easily intimidated.”

Los Angeles Unified is not the only district facing a shortage of leaders. Schools nationwide are grappling with vacancies created by decreasing interest in a job that is synonymous with long days, high pressure and moderate pay.

“There are plenty of credentialed folks available, but they just aren’t applying for the job like before,” said George Manthey, a professional development executive with the Assn. of California School Administrators. “That, plus the fact that so many principals are reaching retirement age, means we’re facing a really terrible problem within five years.”

But in the 711,000-student Los Angeles Unified School District, those problems have been aggravated by the drive to fill new managerial positions with exceptional principals. The district has reorganized itself into 11 subdistricts, creating a number of new administrative positions.

“We have a principal shortage, and we’ve had it for two years in a row,” Romer said. “Half of it is due to retirement. The rest is due to the fact that principals are moving to central offices because of the new opportunities and pay increases available there right now.

“In our decentralization, we took the opportunity to get new blood into management, which is a good thing,” Romer said. “What’s bad, is that it creates a vacancy we need to fill.”

In the meantime, Romer said, the district is “putting intensive work” into professional development academies and other career training programs “for teachers who want to cross over into administrative positions.”

But Brent said the problem is the result of inept planning by the district’s leaders, including Romer.

“Instead of helping schools and principals, they’re hiring principals away to be program directors and specialists--that’s not bad planning, that’s no planning at all,” he said. “Parents and teachers should be very concerned.”

Some schools anticipate being without a permanent principal until October. Yet it is during the first month of school that a principal sets the tone for the entire year, said Peter Ferry, 64, interim principal at Rio Vista Elementary School in North Hollywood.

“It’s critical to have one person coordinate the entire school and then stick with it,” Ferry said.

“The trouble this year is that this reorganization thing happened so gosh darn fast--I’ve never seen so many principals moved up and out for promotional reasons,” he added. “But, then, things change quickly all the time in this district. Our kids may not be able to read, but they sure know how to adapt to change.”

Jim Morris is one of those who has moved up. After working nine years as a principal, Morris has been tapped to take charge of the district’s new reading program. He said he will be earning a higher salary, but that was not the reason he accepted the job.

“I know there is a shortage of administrators,” he said. “But I really feel I have something to offer the district in the new position. I believe in my heart I can help this new reading program succeed.”

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Principal Shortage

The following Los Angeles schools will be starting the new school year without a permanent principal.

ELEMENTARY

Limerick

Pomelo

Noble

Carpenter

Canterbury

Rio Vista

Strathern

Telfair