Opinion
School & District Management Letter to the Editor

Administrators Need Understanding, Support, and Care 

January 18, 2022 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

I read the Opinion piece, “A Principal’s Assessment: ‘We’re Not OK’” (Jan. 2, 2022) by Lisa Meade. Thank you for sharing that.

When administrators have difficulty, challenges, or mental obstacles, we feel so alone and isolated in the profession. If we leave a role, we are sometimes perceived as the problem—we must have done something wrong—when all we needed was understanding, support, and care.

Thank you for this piece, it’s well overdue and can change the lives of so many administrators who are struggling to do the best job they can. Administrators should remember that kids are the reason for going back to our jobs each day, no matter how difficult it gets.

JoAnna Gwynn
Assistant Principal
Reidsville, N.C.

A version of this article appeared in the January 19, 2022 edition of Education Week as Administrators Need Understanding, Support, and Care

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
Unlocking Success for Struggling Adolescent Readers
The Science of Reading transformed K-3 literacy. Now it's time to extend that focus to students in grades 6 through 12.
Content provided by STARI
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
Portrait of a Learner: From Vision to Districtwide Practice
Learn how one district turned Portrait of a Learner into an aligned, systemwide practice that sticks.
Content provided by Otus

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Not Every Assistant Principal Wants the Top Job: 5 Views From the Field
Promotions are welcome. But assistant principals don’t plan their lives around it.
2 min read
School & District Management Superintendents Increasingly Report Economic Pressures on Their Districts
Nevertheless, most superintendents hope to remain in their current roles next year, a new survey finds.
3 min read
AASA National Conference on Education attendees and exhibitors arrive for registration before the start of the conference at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tenn. on Feb. 11, 2026.
Attendees arrive before the start of the AASA National Conference, which hosted scores of superintendents and district leaders, in Nashville, Tenn., on Feb. 11, 2026. The organization's new survey indicates that most superintendents want to stay put for now.
Kaylee Domzalski/Education Week
School & District Management Opinion ‘This Isn’t Working’: Educators Share Unsolicited Advice for District Leaders
How can superintendents improve student outcomes—without micromanaging teachers?
8 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
School & District Management Opinion We’re Not Preparing Principals for the Real Job of School Leadership
A shocking amount of school leadership is not about students. It is about adults.
4 min read
Principal pointing out a teacher on a board with a classroom drawn on it. When we prepare principals, we often focus on the instructional side of the job at the expense of the people-management side.
Dan Page for Education Week