In schools with more than 600 students, principals typically delegate some of this responsibility to assistant principals. Yet many principals do not have a say in which teachers get hired. In too many cases the central office is solely responsible for hiring. In urban school districts where teacher selection could play a significant role in student achievement, principals have far less authority than their suburban and rural counterparts. Since a majority of principals surveyed have responsibility for supervision and evaluation, it is reasonable to expect that they have a choice in who will deliver the services they must evaluate.
Principals welcome the opportunity to select faculty for their school.
Indeed, in schools where principals do get to choose faculty members, they have a higher level of satisfaction and sense of balance between responsibility and authority in the role. First, it's worth noting that, in spite of the rapid changes in the profession, many principals love their work. A focus group conducted by the Maine Leadership Academy on problems associated with changing leadership exposed long hours, stress, lack of suitable compensation, and relationship problems as key reasons why principals are dissatisfied. Despite these concerns, the panel participants acknowledged their own feelings of deep satisfaction with the leadership role inherent in the principalship. They also feel that their colleagues should understand that schools are changing institutions in our society, and that paramount to establishing reasonable leadership responsibilities is the need to clarify the principal's role and improve preparation for that changing role accordingly.