Thursday, April 17, 2008

Superintendents, Principals and Teachers

The Projo has a article on Newport government salaries. One comment caught my attention:

Ambrogi [school superintendent] said it makes sense for him to be the top paid employee in the School Department, just as principals should be earning more than teachers.

My question is, why should they? My husband had an interesting Edc. prof at Roger Williams Univ. who challenged this prevailing thought. She thought that the most important component of education was working with kids (novel idea). Everyone involved in schools should be working with kids. Admins too often become out of touch as they no longer work with kids on a regular basis.

I've seen it happen even with custodians (until they were told to stop). They'd have kids working with them on small tasks, all the while talking to them about students' concerns in a non-threatning atmosphere. Sometimes even visiting classrooms to read a story to students or working with a student who needed to leave their classroom for a time. Sounds like real-life education to me.

Why should Principals get paid more than teachers? One could argue the point that they should be paid less. How about the same as teachers, perhaps even rotating the job with other staffers. It's an intriguing thought which opens up a lot of possibilities. Superintendents also. Let them teach kids on a daily basis. It would certainly serve as a daily reminder of why schools are there. Perhaps alleviate much of the current mainstream thought of admin. versus teachers and parents- "us" against "them." Any thoughts?

Rant for the day.

Get more info on the highest paid Newport gov't jobs- police & principals for the most part.

Thanks to Projo reporter Richard Salit.

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