As a member of AASA’s Blue Ribbon Selection Committee for the National Superintendent of the Year program, I have the good fortune annually to review the detailed applications of the state winners – a sampling of the leadership of school systems of all descriptions in every part of America.
The stories of these superintendents not only are a good read, they underscore how fortunate we are to have such outstanding people at the helm of our schools.
Superintendents are the lynchpins of the public education system. Their commitment is the single most important element to ensuring that universal education is a reality, that it survives all the challenges and thrives, nonetheless. They know what’s most important is not the scope or collective expense of the public education system. It is something much smaller and more important: what happens every day in every classroom, the connection to each child. They, and the educators they lead, touch lives, provide instruction and support and change the trajectory of students, one at a time. They are the real heroes, and their work is an inspiration.
Those are the impressions left indelibly on me after reviewing the thoughtful and detailed personal essays that each of the National Superintendent of the Year state applicants submits to our five-member panel, as part of the selection process managed by AASA. Those essays address prompts relating to leadership for student learning, communication, professionalism and community involvement.
In addition, each of the four national finalists is interviewed by our selection group, and they are observed at a one-hour press event as they respond impromptu to a series of questions posed by a moderator from Education Week.
Impressions of Admiration
Having once again recently completed the process leading to the choice of this year’s national honoree, I’m left with some compelling impressions of the intensely challenging role these dedicated public servants play.
The numbers are staggering – 50 million students in 100,000 schools in nearly 14,000 school districts. Those are the figures that stand out, the ones that give a sense of the sheer size of this operation we call public education in America. When that subject comes up, we cannot help but be impressed that our country has made such a sweeping commitment to educating children whatever their location, family income, race, religion or even immigration status.
Yet doing so is not achieved easily or without strong headwinds. About a quarter of those students live in poverty. Many are in homes with a single parent or other adult, some in no homes at all—living on the street, just trying to get by. Large numbers of them have special educational, emotional and mental health needs. The lives of too many are shrouded by daily threats of violence or abuse. Yet despite all this, academic achievement levels and graduation rates are rising in school districts all over the country.
The very system designed to deliver education to such a vast and disparate group of young people is itself being challenged. Funding cuts, over-regulation, culture wars and efforts to divert public funding to private schools all have conspired to make the enterprise even more difficult to operate. Public education’s survival seems continually threatened. In this special year of celebrating America’s 250th anniversary, we seem too easily to overlook how much our public schools have helped to ensure our nation’s growth and development. Perhaps we simply take them for granted.
Who would want to be tasked with leadership responsibilities for such an imperiled institution? Who would want the job of school superintendent at such a fraught time?
Thankfully, the answer is: thousands of women and men who demonstrate daily a deep, abiding and very personal commitment to educating all children. They can be subject to withering criticism for their decisions and, often, for things they had nothing to do with. These superintendents face an onslaught of challenges with determination. They remain focused on the goal of helping students to succeed when others around them are distracted by temporary and often inconsequential matters.
As one of those honored to serve as selection committee members in the 39th annual National Superintendent of the Year competition, I say thank you to America’s superintendents.
(Thomas Gentzel is executive director/CEO emeritus of the National School Boards Association.)