Loss of Position (School Principal)

The principal's job has become significantly more demanding. State accountability mandates, changing student demographics, and conflicting political pressures combine to make the principal's role more complex and precarious. Sometimes principals are not able to navigate this environment and find themselves fired. Understanding why some principals are terminated is important for both practitioners and preparation programs.

Two recent studies have examined principal termination. One study compared the perceptions of public school principals and superintendents in California about the reasons principals lose their jobs. Both groups agreed that the primary causes for involuntary departure were related to personal characteristics and quality of interpersonal relationships rather than to technical or management skills. They differed in the ranking assigned to these factors. Principals more often attributed termination to external political forces, while superintendents were more likely to cite poor interpersonal skills and poor relationships as primary causes. The two groups also differed in what they perceived to be indicators of a principal at risk. Principals cited poor staff morale, while superintendents considered a high number of teacher and parent complaints early warning signs. Neither superintendents nor principals gave high rankings to factors such as failure to promote student achievement, inability to maintain a safe and orderly campus, inability to [Page 626]manage cultural diversity, and inability to manage time and administrative tasks as important contributors to principal termination, despite the prominence of these factors in the literature on effective leadership.

A similar study in Missouri examined the perceptions of superintendents and principals about the factors leading to principal terminations. Important factors identified in this research included ineffective communication skills, disregard for effective teaching and learning, inability to manage the school improvement process, inability to sustain an inclusive culture, unethical behavior, and an inability to work within the social and cultural context of the community.

While these studies differ methodologically, their results strongly suggest that personal characteristics and inability to build strong interpersonal relationships with significant stakeholders are the critical factors in a principal's involuntary departure from a school district.

Principals faced with the loss of an administrative position through termination may find limited legal protection. A few states provide administrators with tenure, including due process procedures. But many states limit tenure protection to the administrator's status as a teacher only. Principals are normally shielded from arbitrary removal from position during the life of a contract, but reappointment as an administrator is at the discretion of the local school board. The only legal safeguard afforded principals from adverse action during the life of a contract is the requirement that the employer establish “good (or just) cause” for dismissal.