Nearly 8 of 10 school principals dissatisfied

New York City public school principals are not happy campers. In a survey commissioned by the union that represents them, 73 percent of principals reported being dissatisfied with their workload, compensation and job security.

That’s up from 68 percent in 2009, the last time that the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators surveyed its members.

“As demands on principals continue to rise and budgets shrink, we better think about how we’ll recruit and retain assistant principals, education administrators and teachers to fill the principal pipeline,” said CSA President Ernest Logan in announcing the results of the survey in the editorial of the January issue of his union’s newsletter, CSA News. 

Among the causes that Logan cited for the unhappiness is the toll taken by the constant reorganizations of the school system. “Some principals count four reorgs; others as many as seven,” he said.

Other contributing factors Logan mentioned were the lack of raises and the absence of good-faith contract negotiations. 

Working conditions are also abysmal, Logan said. “In addition to test mania, there are ever-shifting, often-unfunded mandates related to special education and ELL students, convoluted new teacher evaluations and a lack of experienced supervision and support that principals could count on before,” he said.

Logan went on to condemn the mayor for having joined the breed of politician who advocates cutting educators’ middle-class salaries, health benefits and pensions as a means to fix the economy, and urged CSA members — and the education community as a whole — to pay close attention to the 2013 mayoral elections.