Revolving door of principals doesn’t help Atlanta students
Atlanta’s Frederick Douglass High School will be getting another new principal and that’s not a good sign for the struggling school, according to the man who ran the school last year.
Removed from his post by APS Superintendent Meria Carstarphen in May after leading the struggling high school for a year, Tony Lamair Burks II says the district needs to give principals more time to turn around struggling schools. Burks’ replacement is leaving APS for a job elsewhere, meaning Douglass will get its third new principal since 2014.
“School turnaround efforts are not sprints, they are marathons. They require commitment and focus,” he says.
Recruited to Atlanta Public Schools in the aftermath of the cheating scandal, Burks served the district for three years, first as North Region executive director and last as principal of Douglass High School. Douglass is among the APS schools at risk of state takeover due to low performance, if Gov. Nathan Deal’s Opportunity School District plan is approved by voters in November.
Too much of APS evaluation of principals is done at arm’s length, says Burks. Nor can principals succeed if they aren’t given full charge of their schools and their staffs.
To read Burks' analysis of what APS needs to do to strengthen its leaders and it schools, go to the AJC Get Schooled blog on MyAJC.com.
About the Author
Maureen Downey has written editorials and opinion pieces about local, state and federal education policy since the 1990s.
