Why do principals quit

Despite adapting, the weight of dealing with social ills that enter into the school classrooms becomes too much to handle at times. Eventually, I began to suffer from secondary trauma and a few health issues. I always joke that I did not have gray hair until I became a principal.

Whether a school is in a rural, urban, or suburban area, issues of violence, drugs, homelessness, joblessness, and mental health issues make teaching and learning more difficult.

When my teachers and students were stressed, I had stress also. I wanted to alleviate the difficulties or problems that they experienced.

Sometimes, it was possible to make their lives easier, but often that was not the case. It is a harsh reality, but I could not fix everything nor save them all. A second reason principals leave is the lack of funding and resources. Unfortunately, many schools do not receive adequate funding from local, state, and federal government agencies.

I was a principal for seven years. I had to close teaching and aide positions, including shutting down the school library. The loss of funds caused major damage to our growth, personnel numbers, and programming. When funding is minimal, a principal cannot purchase sufficient amounts of materials, technology hardware, or software or provide extracurricular activities.

Yet, the expectations of raising test scores remained despite not being able to give the students necessary programs and resources. I felt like I was continually robbing Peter to pay Paul. Teachers and I scraped to make ends meet and persistently looked for grants and other means of funding. Occasionally a few helpful colleagues shared or donated used materials or resources. Next, I did not expect the amount of politics and pressure from outside sources.

Some days I felt like there were too many demands to answer. Pressure came from the district, politicians, and micromanagers. Central office administrators wanted to see data every quarter for attendance, on-track grades, behavior, and suspension numbers.

Then, the same people wanted to make unannounced or announced visits to complete walk-throughs and observations. Next, they tried to unpack the data and tell all the negative things they observed.

Unfortunately, the central office administrators hardly ever said anything positive. The staff, students, parents and I worked hard and deserved some praise about the academic gains our students made. I learned that you could not please everyone or hardly anyone. My school building served as the hub of the community, so many neighborhood agencies wanted to be partners.

Some offered after school tutoring, sports programs, chess teams, etc. Eventually, politics won, and I was pushed out and left the job.

The fourth reason is surely something relatable to many principals. My responsibilities as a school principal were many. I always looked at the job of being the CEO of the school. First and foremost, I was an instructional leader. I hired teachers, aides, and other staff members.

It was my responsibility to follow all directives and policies, balance the budget, implement new programs, and handle day-to-day operations. Do not forget that I met with parents, students, staff members, community members, and vendors. The days were spent putting out fires, handling emergencies, disciplining students, and communicating with district liaisons and reading too many emails with last-minute requests or directives. What I was not ready for is the amount of micromanagement that came from the district level.

I just wanted to run my school based on the needs of students, culture, and inner workings. District mandates and directives usually had a one size fits all approach that did not work well for my students. Micromanagement and interventions did not account for the social-emotional issues and trauma that my students experienced. No one cared because it was all about the data and not the humans. At some point, it becomes a losing and stressful battle.

Lastly, leading a school is extremely stressful. Principals and teachers absorb the shock and stress of their students. Secondary trauma becomes a reality for many educators, including myself. Eventually, my health began to deteriorate.

I developed high blood pressure and cholesterol. My weight increased because I did not eat healthy foods, nor did I take the time to exercise. Workdays were hours at the school, along with long rush-hour drives home. I could not sleep at night, and the doctor diagnosed insomnia. I was very close to having a stroke. It was a wake-up call for me. It would also exacerbate an already high level of churn in the profession.

A report from NASSP and the Learning Policy Institute earlier this year found that nearly 1 in 5 principals turn over each year, largely driven by challenging working conditions, too little support and professional development, among other factors.

Within the group of leaders who said they are now weighing leaving the profession, Slightly more than 17 percent said the pandemic has moved up their plans to leave within 1 to 2 years. And 5 percent said they would leave the job as soon as possible. Those findings were consistent across leaders in elementary, middle, and high schools. The specific reasons respondents said they were planning to leave included a lack of leadership and support for carrying out their responsibilities in such chaotic conditions and health concerns for themselves, their staff, and their students.

School leaders are worried about their health, the health of their spouses, who may have underlying conditions, and the constantly changing guidelines and policies are adding more stress to an already stressful job, said Ernest Logan, president of the American Federation of School Administrators, a national union for principals.

Some are worried about liability and what happens if they will be held personally responsible if a student or employee gets sick. Nadia Lopez, 43, made the choice to leave in July.

Lopez had been the principal of Mott Hall Bridges Academy, a public middle school in the Brownsville community in Brooklyn, since its founding in She—and her school, situated in one of the poorest communities in New York City—became famous nearly overnight in when a student, Vidal Chastanet, was photographed and interviewed by Brandon Stanton, the creator of Humans of New York.

Vidal, then 13, told Stanton that Lopez had been the greatest influence in his life. Just before that story went viral, Lopez was ready to quit. The stress of the job had taken a toll on her physical health. She was invited to the White House. She was featured in national magazines.

Fast forward to May Still running the school, Lopez had developed a serious kidney disorder. She went on medical leave and had major surgery several months later. An interim principal was leading the school during the summer, fall, and winter of Then the pandemic hit, the mayor ordered all schools to close, and principals and teachers had to quickly start up remote learning.

At the same time, virus-related illness and death were ravaging New York, and the Brownsville community was hit hard, she said. Highly Influenced. View 5 excerpts, cites background. View 10 excerpts, cites results and background. School principals play one of the most important roles in education. The development of a comparative appraisal of perceived resources and demands for principals.

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