What I don't like is the tendency to hire from within. See, it's helpful for someone to come into a school with a blank slate and the ability to make radical changes. That was true for me when I went from the assistant principal at Austin High to become principal at Fuller Elementary. As a result, the job is based on performance, so a school needs to improve if a principal wants a renewed contract. There is now a sense of accountability.
Principals are now more mindful of their primary responsibility, the improvement of school.
On the flip side, LSCs were in some cases basing their hiring decisions on personality. It's yet to be demonstrated that we have systemwide a deep corps of effective instructional change-leaders. But in the early '90s, some old-guard principals tired of their changed role, and newer principals found it too difficult to hire personnel and to purchase things. Two waves of early retirement drew an extraordinary number of people away. Now the pool may be weaker.