Empowering Principals

What a great idea!

The program allows individual principals to request greater autonomy from the department. Participating principals gain more freedom over curriculum and more choices to procure some services from outside contractors instead of internal department providers. But they must set stricter performance targets with the department and face consequences if they don't meet the targets, such as more stringent reviews from watchful administrators.

A small pilot of the program has been a smashing success. The chancellor is now hoping to expand the program, and many principals seemed eager to participate. Some 270 schools had at least started to fill out the online application ahead of this week's deadline.

------------------------

Empowering Principals

New York Sun Editorial
May 24, 2006

http://www.nysun.com/article/33313

Chancellor Klein's effort to launch a principal-empowerment program illustrates that it can often be difficult to see the forest for the trees. Witness the letter, published on this page yesterday, from the president of the principals' union, Jill Levy. She takes issue with a comment from an education department spokesman reported in the Sun. Speaking of the union's reaction to the chancellor's proposal, the spokesman, David Cantor, had said, "the last group we expected to oppose us was the principals union." Ms. Levy calls that characterization of her group's position "beyond credulity."...