To the Editor:
Ted Sanders’ essay “Preparing School Leaders—Shared Responsibilites” (Commentary, April 6, 2005) omitted the most glaring problem with public school administrators today: They construe themselves as public relations specialists rather than educational leaders.
I am not really interested in the degrees they have or where they got them. I am interested in someone coming into a school and addressing problems instead of pretending everything is wonderful and spending the bulk of the day making everyone feel good.
Most public school administrators believe in making their lives easier, not in making their schools better places of learning. So we have problems with achievement gaps and poor academic performances from coast to coast.
Can anyone honestly find a public school administrator today who knows his or her state’s standards by grade level in each discipline—or even where to find them? I know of none, and I’ve been a public school teacher for 33 years.
Paul T. Hoss
Marshfield, Mass.
