The Christian Science Monitor – Peg Tyre
“It’s the second full week of instruction at the start of the second year of Hardy’s tenure as principal, and the administrator, a wiry, intense young woman, is cautiously optimistic. This time last year, she and thousands of other public school principals around the country began their first year in the front office and stepped directly into what many consider one of the toughest jobs in America. And one of the most important. In the age of the knowledge economy, education increasingly shapes the future success of individuals as well as nations. So the Monitor and The Hechinger Report decided to follow a principal through her inaugural year at a struggling urban school to find out how hard the job really is, how it’s changed, and what it reveals about the state of American education. Being a school principal has never been easy, of course. Traditionally, the role was like being the chief executive officer and face of the school. The principal hired teachers, interpreted directives from the district and state, and balanced the budget (in theory). Day to day, this meant wrestling with innumerable smaller tasks: handling the concerns of parents, disciplining unruly kids, negotiating food service contracts, and figuring out what to do with the balky air conditioner in the gym.”(more)