Education Funding

Groups Plead To Keep Resident Teacher, Principal at E.D.

By Alan Richard — May 16, 2001 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The principal-in-residence and teacher-in-residence positions at the U.S. Department of Education should not be cut, leaders of four major education groups told Secretary of Education Rod Paige in a letter last week.

“These two valuable programs bring outstanding teachers and principals to the nation’s capital to provide unique perspectives to the nation’s top education officials,” the letter says. “If, as we believe, this administration is serious about making education its No. 1 priority, it would be a grave and shortsighted mistake to remove these crucial voices from the dialogue at the national level.”

Signed by the leaders of the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the national associations of elementary and secondary school principals, the letter asks Mr. Paige to reconsider the decision to eliminate the positions. (“Lack of Leadership Programs In Bush Budget Bemoaned,” April 18, 2001.)

Lindsay Kozberg, the spokeswoman for Mr. Paige and the Education Department, said the secretary wants to make clear that he values the advice of administrators and teachers, and that’s precisely why the Bush administration wants more voices than just two.

“The principal-in-residence and the teacher- in-residence are the past administration’s efforts to solicit information about teacher quality and leadership quality,” Ms. Kozberg said. “Our approach is going to be a broader one.”

Ending the current programs, when replaced by other ways of listening to educators, will expand the pool of thought at the federal level, Ms. Kozberg said.

“The reasons that the in-residence programs are being concluded at the end of this session are that so we can move to a broader approach,” she said. “We want a program that will get us there better.”

What type of program might replace the positions is still being discussed, she added. Previously, Ms. Kozberg has mentioned focus groups as a way of seeking opinion from teachers and principals. She said last week that senior officials were still “working through it right now.”

“We think that’s a mistake,” Bob Chase, the president of the 2.6 million-member NEA, said of the plans to drop the positions. “Without these people being there, the likelihood of [teachers’ and principals’ involvement] on a daily basis is very limited.”

Sandra Feldman, the president of the 1 million-member AFT, said seeking opinions from educators in different ways isn’t a bad idea, but shouldn’t keep the agency from having a principal and a teacher on staff. “One is not a substitute for the other,” she said.

Vincent L. Ferrandino, the executive director of the National Association of Elementary School Principals, said his organization would like to see a more direct commitment to administrators. Preserving the principal-in-residence, who is available to answer questions from practicing educators, would do that, he said.

“We feel that having the person there is critical, that doing focus groups will not get the same kind of input these people can provide on a day-to-day basis.”

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the May 16, 2001 edition of Education Week as Groups Plead To Keep Resident Teacher, Principal at E.D.

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
Classroom Technology Webinar
How to Leverage Virtual Learning: Preparing Students for the Future
Hear from an expert panel how best to leverage virtual learning in your district to achieve your goals.
Content provided by Class
English-Language Learners Webinar AI and English Learners: What Teachers Need to Know
Explore the role of AI in multilingual education and its potential limitations.
Education Webinar The K-12 Leader: Data and Insights Every Marketer Needs to Know
Which topics are capturing the attention of district and school leaders? Discover how to align your content with the topics your target audience cares about most. 

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

Education Funding Explainer 3 Steps to Keep Tutoring Going When ESSER Money Runs Out
Schools may lose more than $1,200 per student as enrollment falls and federal COVID relief funds expire next year.
4 min read
Illustration of a dollar sign falling over a cliff.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Education Funding Opinion Foundations Have Given Money to Schools for a Long Time. What's Actually Working?
Investments in one key area seem to be making a difference when it comes to improving schools.
14 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty
Education Funding Opinion Education Funders Need to Ditch the Savior Complex
Trust in the input from teachers, staff, community, and students will go a long way toward making initiatives successful.
12 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty
Education Funding Opinion Foundations Invest in Public Education. Teachers Would Like the Money Spent These Ways
Philanthropies invest millions on trying to improve student achievement. Educators don't always agree on what they're targeting.
14 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty