‘Leadership: Stop Saying It’s Going to the Dark Side.

When people leave the classroom in order to take on a building leadership role they are often confronted with more than a few people saying it’s too bad that they are leaving the classroom to go to the “dark side.” They are told that they will be disconnected from students.

Lee Hale wrote a piece called ‘Increasing Salaries So Teachers Don’t Have to Become Principals.’

Teacher salaries do need to increase. No dispute there. What does need to stop is the constant need to put a wedge between principals and teachers when they work in the same building and have an enormous opportunity to connect with students. As a principal I didn’t think my job was to walk the halls and check for students playing hooky. My job was to create relationships with students, teachers and parents, and to have a better focus on authentic learning learning experiences.