TEXAS VIEW: Will Texas school superintendents quit in droves in 2022?

THE POINT: The state has 55 vacancies to fill.

Public school superintendents feel pressure from many sides. It comes from politicians, parents, teachers and sometimes even students.

As stewards of the education of thousands of children in their communities, superintendents sign up for a high-pressure job. The pandemic has only made that job more stressful. But we worry that increasing political heat and misguided acrimony from parents is making the climate in our schools so toxic that it’ll drive the best superintendents out of the profession.

Earlier this month we lamented the resignation of Richardson ISD Superintendent Jeannie Stone, who got caught in the middle of ideological wars over masking and efforts to correct racism and racial inequities in the classroom. The superintendents of three other North Texas school districts also announced their departures in recent weeks. Two of those are retirements.

Texas public schools have 55 superintendent vacancies right now, and it’s too early to tell whether this number portends a resignation crisis. Superintendents in Texas typically stay in a district between three and four years. That’s not a long shelf life.

Yet it’s hard not to be alarmed. Kevin Brown, executive director of the Texas Association of School Administrators, expects the number of vacancies to grow. He told us that politics is clearly pushing many quality school administrators out the door.

“People are just exhausted,” Brown said. “It is becoming more difficult to focus on what’s right for the children.”

In 2021, superintendents have had to navigate conflicting public health orders on masking as they watched pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations climb in the summer. They’ve had to face the overwhelming task of making up pandemic learning losses in the midst of a teacher shortage. They’ve had to deal with a state inquiry into school library books reminiscent of a McCarthy-era witch hunt.

And they’ve had to sit through school board meetings that devolved into angry speeches and personal attacks. Richardson ISD parents started showing up with shirts that read “Fire Stone” after the superintendent implemented a mask mandate, according to the Lake Highlands Advocate.

Parents are entitled to have a voice in the education of their children. But the tenor of their complaints is getting out of control. Misinformation campaigns and dirty politics are stoking parental fears to energize voters about cultural wars. The goal is to bully school boards and administrators, not to help communities achieve consensus about contentious issues.

We hope that parents who have been disengaged from their district’s politics will pay attention now. When contracts come due for renewal early next year, will more superintendents bail?

Managing a school district is a difficult enough job. We must not turn these jobs into an intolerable nightmare.

Dallas Morning News