Leadership And Local Experience Should Go Hand In Hand

Working and living in the same community has its benefits. Sure it's a fast commute, but it's also a plus to know the territory and quality of people you're dealing with on a daily basis. Using myself, and some of my co-workers, as an example, I can say, with confidence, that it helps to have experience with the demographics, challenges and changes which a community has undergone. Most jobs don't require experience or knowledge of the neighborhood where it's located. In my opinion, public service jobs should require some familiarity of the employee's surroundings.

 

I didn't think about the importance of having “local” experience until I read the report on schools’ Chancellor Carmen Fariña’s speech to principals during a special meeting at Brooklyn Tech last week. Among the positive points she made about the new leadership style that will infuse the Department of Education, she mentioned that one of the qualifications for being a school principal will be to have seven years of experience. Fariña didn't give details on what type of experience this encompassed, but it would be a contrast to former Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration, which promoted a principal's academy that equipped schools with inexperienced leaders.

What, exactly, makes a good and experienced principal? I know I might get mixed reviews from educators for saying this, but I think a principal should know the community in which they're teaching. It's not a reality, I know – as principals are assigned to schools in other boroughs and states where they have no idea what's going on.

I'm not saying there should be an overhaul of the system and that all principals should be assigned to schools where they live. However, I do feel that a principal should have some experience as an educator within the community for more than seven years.

Over the years, I conducted interviews with local principals and most of them went well – with typical overviews of what needed to be done in terms of programming and special events. Principals who had over a decade of experience as teachers or assistant principals in the same school had detailed plans of what was needed to be done to improve their students’ quality of education.

Canarsie has changed a lot over the years and students come from a variety of backgrounds, living situations and family challenges. Our students have different needs than, say, children from the suburbs in Staten Island or Long Island. I don't think it's enough for a principal to have experience in any school in any community.

Let's get real! If there's a teacher who has seen their school transform, who has met with thousands of parents from the same community over the years, they know the territory and challenges better than an assigned principal from miles away who was just thrown into things. I propose that teachers with an extensive amount of experience – maybe about ten years within the same district – are chosen to be principals of community schools.

No offense to the Department of Education, but promoting someone to principal and placing them in a school where they have no prior experience doesn't help influence change. If we want our children to be great leaders, they need guidance from great leaders – and great leaders are sculpted from their experiences. If you want to contend that all children – no matter where they live – are the same and require the same education, that's like saying you'll wear the same clothes in the frigid winter as you do in the sweltering summer. Different environments call for different measures!

Principals who have grown with school – and even those who live in the vicinity of the school – know what they’re up against and have seen the changes in their district.

Fariña wants to create a more transparent leadership and she wants to create a system that better supports teachers and parents. Maybe getting back to the foundation of community education needs to be revisited. Wherever the new leadership takes us, let’s hope they’re schooled in common sense.