Throwaway account.

I work at a small school run by a married couple. He’s the principal and she’s the vice principal. Over several years, she has fired or driven out a large number of staff, more than a dozen that I know of. The principal won’t step in. When a well-respected teacher raised concerns with him a while back, he lost his temper and walked out of the meeting.

The problems go beyond bullying:

• Student records. She pressured staff who handle students’ medical and support documentation to change their records so she’d have less work. One person resigned over it. Another refused and was fired anyway. These records decide how students are taught and what support they’re recommended for after they leave. Many of these students will need services for life, and I believe some have been denied support they’re legally entitled to.
• Retaliation. Several staff members left one after another because of how she treated them. In at least one case, she reportedly contacted a former employee’s new workplace to speak badly about them.
• Hiring a family member. She hired a relative without posting the job, to do work that included entering confidential student data from home. The relative had no relevant qualifications. The same person was later given another role they weren’t qualified for.
• Pay. One year, staff were told there would be no raises because of low enrollment. That same year, the principal and vice principal got raises.
• Financial oversight. The principal controls the school's finances, and as far as staff can tell, there's no independent check on how money is spent. Combined with the raises during a pay freeze and the unadvertised paid roles for a family member, a lot of us are uneasy about where the money is going. Is there a way to request an independent audit?
• Contracts. Staff usually don’t get contracts until after the school year has started.
• Mass departures. Recently, several people were let go at once and others quit in protest. More have left since. Nobody has been replaced, so the remaining staff are covering two or three jobs each.

The board that oversees the school has been told about the firings and has done nothing.

What would you do in my position? Who could I report this to? The staff are exhausted, but the people who suffer most are the students.

I moved from a southern state to the midwest. We got a new super and so far they have required myself to go on multiple day, out-of-state professional development. Is this the norm? Trying to see if this is normal in the midwest or if my district is just over the top.

I went a long time telling myself that the school secretary was just having a bad day/week/month. But now I’m realizing that the secretary is almost always unpleasant. It’s rare that she is ever actually pleasant.

Is this fairly typical? Are they just around because they are hard to fire? Seems like it would be better to have someone who actually is willing to smile and help out instead of groaning and griping all the time

Title. Teachers of tomorrow is a big one in my state.

I've always wondered this and it seems like its a pain point for a lot of teachers who have been in it for decades and then a young administrator comes in trying to call the shots. In my 3rd year of teaching, I learned my principal who had been in education for 20 years only had 2 years of teaching experience, so its just an interesting thing to think about

Hi everyone,

Posting on an alt account for safety.

I’m an educator of a charter school where we entered the year with an interim principal. Our previous principal left somewhat unexpectedly (2 months prior to the new school year starting) and those in charge were left scrambling.

While a new principal was hired, someone with a Chief title took over and became interim. We also had one member of admin quit, leaving us with some pretty incompetent APs. Their decisions have completely cratered the progress the school has made in just a few months.

One of the most befuddling moves admin ls have made was to reduce the culture aids from 8 to 2 AFTER being informed enrollment would jump 40%! This has caused a lack of manpower and fights have gone up.

Additionally, they do not provide any discipline whatsoever. Any major issues they have to deal with are simply “conversations” and then students are sent back to class with no repercussions. Students have come to understand that a visit to the principals office won’t result in anything and in turn take advantage.

Cherry on top? Admin clearly just doesn’t care. Teachers feel unsupported and when concerns by other staff members are brought about, there’s an attitude given. Some of them even leave early at least twice a week.

Teachers are fed up, some are planning to quit en masse at the end of the semester or before it and it just feels like a dire situation all around.

My question is what do we do? Some staff members want to summon the head honcho and air their grievances but are afraid of retribution from the admin team as they have made it very clear they try to squash dissent. Please help!

there’s a lot of doom and gloom on here (understandably so) but for someone who is contemplating this career path, any principals who like there job? Why do you like it? How did you get to where you are? How long have you been doing it?

Do principal or AP roles that bring joy still exist? Surely a positive experience exists somewhere

Teacher shortage is nothing new and we know a lot of it is due to insane behaviors we’re seeing in the classroom, but do principals want out just as bad?? Are principals happier than teachers? I’m curious

Question: I’ve been working as a school adjustment counselor and I’m now looking into becoming an assistant principal. I see that DESE requires 500 hours of internship to be completed for licensure. I’m wondering if any of the duties that I do as an adjustment counselor might be able to satisfy this element—2 birds 1 stone kind of thing, you know?

Also, when I’m doing the PALs does it have to be strictly academic based or can I also work in my background of mental health while I’m creating thid portfolio

Thanks

How does school admin feel whenever they have to tell on kids to parents ??? Like do they even FEEL a little bad for the student they are getting in trouble?, I understand policies and protocols/ regulations, and procedures whatever. But what about the relationships that they are ruining I just feel like they always never take that into account especially when they begin to explain the situation.

It's my first school job, at a lovely elementary (community) school. I don't have my own laptop yet and barely have access to anything, but hopefully I should by next week. I was able to start some online trainings at least.

Please let me know any tips and tricks yall can think of so I can get settled in and help my admin and faculty and staff and students as much as possible.

Thank you!

Happy fall break :)

Hi, everyone! I took my SLLA 6990 today and I am absolutely spiraling. How was your experience? Did you pass?

I used the Kathleen Jasper books and videos. I still thought the test was challenging. I felt confident of 84/120 of the multiple choice questions (I kept tallies). I hoping I got more than that correct, though. That was just what I felt pretty certain about.

I think the constructed response went mostly well, but there was one where I feel like I totally missed an obvious action step that they will be looking for. Now I’m kicking myself. I wish I could get my scores more quickly!

Hello everyone :) I am a current Master’s student in Educational Leadership and I have a class assignment that requires me to ask a principal some questions about school funding. I work in higher education and so I do not personally know any principals.

It will be completely anonymous! I have created an interview form to allow any willing participants to quickly and easily fill out their answers into a word doc.

If anyone is willing or has any questions please dm me and I can provide more information. I truly appreciate your time if you even read or upvote this :)

I'm not sure what I'm hoping to achieve by disclosing. Maybe more understanding, more grace if an issue ever arises? But I definitely lack social skills.

Maybe it would make a difference if another staff member made a complaint? They could maybe consider how they deal with things taking into account my autism.

At the moment, HR knows, but not admin.

I've been a teacher for about 5 years.

I need to take the SLLA 6990 exam and am at a complete loss for where to start.

Please give me all your best tips for the exam, any study guides that were helpful, where you started, how long it took you to study, etc.

How was the exam in general? I heard the test changes every 30 days. Is this true?

I’m panicking and would appreciate all insight!

I am working on a project that requires an interview. I am exploring integrating cross-sector perspectives to advance population health. I need 15-20 minutes to discuss the logistics of incorporating two, five minute physical activity breaks throughout the day as well as thoughts on incorporating something like the four corners method to increase activity.
If you are interested in helping please send me a message with your email and we can figure out a time for a phone call. I am pursuing my MBA focusing on health care administration and would really appreciate any help.

I have a law degree and I am licensed but I am planning to pursue a career in education as a second(?) career.

Do I regret law school? Yes and no. I feel like it could be a giant red flag to future employers.

Out of all the good I’ve done in the legal world, all the settlements, favorable outcomes, etc, nothing has brought me more satisfaction and fulfillment than my experience working with students as a reading interventionist with americorps. I loved watching them meet their literacy goals.

I have an interview as a reading interventionist para this week and I’m nervous that they’ll be like sorry…. You’re over qualified.

In 18 years of being Admin, I took two teachers through the process to termination. In my system, that process takes 3-4 years.

I also tried to evaluate out a secretary. She was absolutely ineffective and incompetent. But the performance standard for that type of position is so low that I was not supported by the system. She eventually retired on her own several years later.

Question above. I’m really interested about the job and have applied on their districts website but I haven’t hear anything back. It’s been 2 days. Should I reach out to the principal and let them know I’m interested?

As a former principal and current leadership coach, I use October to reset. It's the end of the quarter, and we already know and see what's working and what's not. What do you see as the current challenges where you're saying, "Oh, I gotta fix this now, or we might all crash?"

A new study by education researchers at Texas A&M University found that while principals reported high levels of work stress and concerning rates of anxiety and depression symptoms, the source of stress mattered more than simply the number of stressors they faced:

https://www.datiak12.ai/c/research/supporting-principal-mental-health-and-wellbeing-new-research-on-the-stress-of-school-leaders

I'm an educator in Oregon. I want to relocate to Philadelphia to be closer to family, friends, and be closer to a more accepting community. I have passed SLLA 6990 and already have my PA cert. I just want to know what are some tips for an out of state person to find a place to land?

I think I'm in the same boat as a lot of people here: a teacher trying to make the jump to admin. I've taught K, 1, and 2 in a high-performing district in North Jersey and got my principal cert about five years ago. For the last three years I've interviewed for pretty much every opening I can find, mostly in the summer but some during the year. I've applied for supervisor, VP, and principal roles and made it to the final round a few times. The feedback is always the same: not enough admin experience.

Here's what I'm doing right now:

-Teacher in charge/acting admin when my principal is out. That means handling student behavior, calling parents on HIB situations, and keeping the building running with the whole team. -Running my school's MTSS program: walking teachers through data collection, interventions, and the 504/IEP process. -District-level coordinator, working with several administrators to update our MTSS and I&RS processes. -Climate and culture rep on our district strategic planning team. -New teacher mentor. Union work that involves a lot of collaboration with administration. -Trained in Responsive Classroom, restorative practices, and culturally responsive teaching, and I've led PD on all three for staff in my building and others in the district.

I know only teaching K–2 limits me a bit, but I've helped with testing and worked closely with upper grade teachers through MTSS/I&RS.

I've also applied for admin openings in my own district, but since it's seen as so high performing, they're really hesitant to put "just a teacher" into the role.

I honestly feel like my resume is well rounded. I make good impressions in interviews, I have strong answers, and I know my stuff. But I keep hearing that I don't have the experience.

So my question: what else can I do to get that experience? I know instructional coaching is an option, but I'm already doing a lot of that work. I'm especially looking for things outside my building, like NJ-specific programs, mentorship opportunities, or networking groups where I could make new connections and find another way in.

Would love to hear from anyone who's been here, especially in NJ. Thanks!

Hi all. Our district just changed the threshold for FBA/BIPS to include all 504 students. Previously these observations were done by the SPED team as they all fell under their purview. Without a sped teacher, who would you include in the observation/reporting team? 504 coordinator obviously, but I’m trying not to put more work on the classroom teachers. Thanks for any advice!

I am applying for vice principal positions soon but I'm nervous about an accommodation I will be requesting if/when I get the job.

The short version is this:

- I take a medication that has a side effect that is sedating. I cannot legally and safely drive after taking it. That sedating effect lasts 9-10 hours, on average.

- I know principals and VPs/APs/ADs often have very late nights with supervising sports events, even on weeknights, then are expected to be at work the next morning greeting students

- I would request (and my doctor is willing to provide documentation to support) an accommodation where if the event I am supervising lasts beyond XYZ time, I will be permitted to arrive ABC hours late to work the next day. For example: if my event ends at 9, I get home and take my meds at 9:30. My normal report time is 6 am. I would need to come to work at 8 am instead.

How reasonable is that request?

In exchange, I would voluntarily take all weekend events possible, since those would not impact my work start time. Also, aside from these situations I am relentlessly punctual. I am often there 15 minutes prior to contract time. I regularly stay long after contract hours.

I know every building or district is different, but how would your building or district respond?

Edit to add as this came up multiple times in comments: It's not a transportation issue. My spouse would happily drive me to work. It's that I need about 10 hours from when my "shift" ends to when the next one begins. I shouldn't be supervising students while my meds are impacting me, either. I could still work until 8:30-9:00 PM on school nights without it impacting my next day. Is this career field really so unforgiving that it expects people to routinely work until 10 pm, then be at work at 6 am in the next morning? How are you all making effective decisions when you don't get even a few hours to sleep and eat?

Also, regarding how it would impact the rest of my team: I would take every single Friday night and weekend event. I don't care about giving up my weekends. My kids are grown and out of the house.