Strong Leadership

Strong site leadership is a critical factor in an excellent school, and we must attract, recruit, support, and retain excellent principals for every school. A good principal inspires, motivates, and empowers dozens of teachers. Conversely, a bad principal can demoralize an entire faculty, even the high-performers. The leaders we seek should thrive in challenging circumstances, be strategic problem-solvers able to maintain perspective, desire autonomy for accountability, be able to connect with families and inspire trust, and lead and inspire a staff and students to excel.

Excellent leadership will be assured when...

• Every school has an excellent principal who feels respected as a professional and whose working conditions include quality professional development; collaboration time to support and learn from other principals; and operational and compliance support that enables them to maintain a focus on school climate and instruction.
• Our city's culture around public education encourages principals to innovate instead of labeling every deviation as noncompliant.
• Principals are relieved of the burdens created by a compliance-oriented bureaucratic system, making it possible for them to prioritize instructional leadership.
• The Board of Education and district leaders work at the state level to reduce the compliance demands made of schools.

• Principals' pay is competitive with surrounding districts. A higher base compensation system and performance incentives will go a long way in keeping our strong principals.
• School and Central Office leaders and staff share responsibility for educating all Oakland youth.

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