District leaders operate under constant pressure: Whether they work in a small or large district, every decision they make affects hundreds to thousands of children.
From defending computer systems from cyberattacks, to navigating the latest political frenzy, to making tough budget choices, superintendents and other district-level administrators deal with a lot day to day.
There are plenty of concerns to keep them up at night, but what, exactly, are the most common among district leaders? The EdWeek Research Center asked a nationally representative sample of educators, including district leaders, this question: “What’s the one thing that’s work related that is keeping you up at night right now?”
While district leaders are losing some sleep over academics, their answers show they are most worried about securing what their schools need to function without getting derailed by poor leadership, politics, and paperwork.
Following is our ranking of the top 10 concerns keeping district leaders up at night in 2024. (Other educators aren’t sleeping soundly, either: Read about the top issues keeping principals and teachers awake.)
When parents are engaged in their kids’ education, it can improve students’ academic achievement and motivation, research has found. So it’s no surprise that district leaders are worried about parents being disengaged or unsupportive, especially as they contend with high rates of absenteeism, the need to catch students up academically, and behavioral issues.
A superintendent in Mississippi wrote in the survey that parents and social media cause them to lose sleep: “Everything here hits Facebook, and it turns into a gripe session. Board members get bombarded because of this information and, most of the time, this [is] MISinformation.”
For a district-level special education administrator in Missouri, “challenging and unreasonable parents” keep them up at night.
It’s no surprise that the materials and policies that determine what students learn made the list. With increased attention and debate around what constitutes evidence-based reading instruction, many district leaders have been reevaluating their curricula and responding to concerned policymakers and parents. Also, what, exactly, should be taught in public schools around race and gender continues to be a source of major friction in a politically divided country, likely adding to district leaders’ anxiety.
While the amount of say district leaders have in setting curriculum and standards varies, they are—in particular superintendents—the public face of their school system and it’s often their responsibility to build support for educational initiatives.
Teacher pay is, for obvious reasons, a major concern for teachers, but it’s also keeping district leaders up at night—but for opposing reasons, judging by the survey responses. While some administrators said low teacher salaries complicate their efforts to staff schools, others said teacher salaries can be a drain on limited resources.
For example, a district-level administrator in technology in Oregon pointed to “inflation and losing staff to other better-paid alternatives” as a key worry.
Meanwhile, a New Hampshire-based finance administrator said they are losing sleep over “teachers bargaining for more money, when student test scores continue to drop.”
Student achievement and learning are the core functions of any district, and while every era and generation has its challenges, the pandemic was an unprecedented shock to the education system that severely stunted students’ academic progress. Many students are still lagging behind where they should be, even as federal resources to address the issue dry up.
District leaders are being asked to make crucial decisions—how and where to allocate limited resources, what curriculum will be most effective in teaching reading, and how or if students can use cellphones in school, just to name a few—all with the aim of moving the needle on student achievement at this pivotal moment. No pressure, folks.
Rates of chronic absenteeism—commonly defined as missing 10 percent or more of school days for excused or unexcused reasons—have soared after the pandemic. Teachers are constantly competing with cellphones and social media for students’ attention in class. And, although the poor state of youth mental health is showing some signs of improvement, it’s still concerning, health experts say, with the U.S. surgeon general labeling it “the defining public health crisis of our time” last year.
When asked what keeps them up at night, a district-level administrator in special education in Mississippi said this: “How to change school culture and mindset to increase proficiency.”
Another lingering and pernicious effect of the pandemic is the decline in students’ behavior and social skills. Although district leaders may not be dealing with this challenge as directly as teachers and principals, they’re still seeing—and feeling—the effects.
As one California-based district administrator for curriculum and instruction said, the “challenge of supporting teachers to meet the new normal related to student behavior and budget cuts” keeps them up at night.
A district administrator for special education in Arizona said their top concerns are “behavior challenges, high-needs students, and [an] increasing number of students with special education needs.”
Turns out the bosses have to deal with bad bosses, too. As a whole, district leaders ranked ineffective and unsupportive school and district leadership higher than teachers and principals did on their list of concerns contributing to their insomnia. Even superintendents, essentially the CEOs of their districts, have to answer to school boards.
And that’s the case for a superintendent in Kansas who said they are losing sleep over “a poor school board that does not listen to educators in making decisions regarding the direction and welfare of the district.”
Meanwhile, an administrator in California overseeing operations and transportation said the No. 1 thing keeping them up is “boards and superintendents losing sight of what’s important: the teacher, the student, the parent.”
Like their colleagues at the school level, district-level folks are struggling under the crush of their job’s demands.
A superintendent in Oregon said they can’t sleep over the “increased administrative tasks and reporting, unfunded mandates, plethora of individual grants with individual reporting, tracking, and funding restrictions, [and] providing effective staff support to stressed teachers.”
One Pennsylvania-based district-level administrator in curriculum and instruction said simply that the thing that keeps them up at night is: “getting everything done.”
Heated debates over how—or whether—race, religion, gender, and sexuality can be taught or discussed in public schools have been raging in some communities, with district leaders and other educators perpetually stuck at the center of the storm. Plus, a growing political focus on “parents’ rights” and private school choice have left some educators feeling villainized.
This topic clearly touches a nerve, based on the survey responses.
“I am worried about the ridiculous policies that are being considered and/or have been passed by the out-of-touch and dangerous governor, legislature, and [state superintendent of public instruction] in California,” said a superintendent there.
A superintendent in Arizona, meanwhile, said what keeps them up at night is a “lack of funding, school choice, and how my state does everything to harm public education in favor of [education savings account] programs.”
Meanwhile, an Oklahoma-based administrator in curriculum and instruction said they are losing sleep over “the intrusion of religious indoctrination into public schools.” (The state now requires all schools to teach the Bible, a directive that’s being challenged in court.)
And a North Carolina superintendent said that the primary cause of their sleep loss is the “vilification of public education and a clear message that it will be dismantled unless we change course.”
A third of district leaders in the EdWeek Research Center survey signaled that school funding, resources, and staffing were the top concerns keeping them up at night. And as pandemic-era federal funding winds down, and teacher shortages, especially in hard-to-staff subjects and in communities with limited resources, persist, these challenges will likely keep district leaders up at night for quite some time.
“The impact of ESSER funding ending on programming and staff” is what most worries a superintendent in Pennsylvania: “This funding source enabled schools to provide extra support and access to learning opportunities.”
For an administrator overseeing curriculum and instruction in a New Jersey district, the biggest concern is “the lack of certified staff applying for jobs to fill numerous vacancies.”
Adding to district leaders’ stress may be the feeling that despite all of these challenges, they must put on a brave face. That’s what keeps an administrator in curriculum and instruction in New Jersey awake at night: “There is a lot of pressure on admin. to be in compliance with state and federal mandates, while also spreading the joy factor in order to retain teachers.”
Data analysis for this article was provided by the EdWeek Research Center. Learn more about the center’s work.
