IBO Report - Teaching Experience Of Principals Plummets

The IBO report on NYCDOE schools was just released - you can see it here in PDF.

I'm starting to pore through it now, but here's one stat that got my attention (though given the Bloomberg policies of hiring lots of people with little-to-no education experience whatsoever to work as "team leaders", it's not a surprise):

In 2000-2001, principals in DOE schools averaged 14.0 years as a teacher.

In 2012-2013, principals in DOE schools averaged 9.1 years.

That's nearly a five year decrease in experience working as a teacher.

And you can see from the trajectory that the teaching experience of principals has gone done EVERY year since 2000.

You've still got some principals in DOE schools who taught for a good period of time before becoming administrators.

But you've also got a lot who have little experience as teachers.

Because what can be a better deal than having somebody with little-to-no teaching experience leading a school as principal?

George W. Bush Institute To Train Principals

This sounds like it's from The Onion - but it's real:

DALLAS — The first initiative of the George W. Bush Institute will focus on improving the performance of school principals, former first lady Laura Bush announced Wednesday.

"We know the teachers have a direct and enormous impact on student performance and school principals shape the environment in which teachers are able to operate successfully," Bush told a group assembled at a Dallas high school for the announcement.

The institute's Alliance to Reform Education Leadership, or AREL, will consist of school districts, universities and foundations offering educational programs to current and future school leaders, Bush said.

"A well-trained, energetic teacher can be stifled under lackluster or discouraging administrators," said Bush, a former school teacher.

The Bush Institute hopes to certify at least half the nation's public school principals by 2020.

Would ANYBODY want to hire a principal trained by the Bush Academy?

Seriously, the Jack Welch/General Electric Principal Academy is bad enough.

But if you ask me to think about words that come to mind when I think about "George W. Bush" and "leadership qualities," I come up with "arrogant," "clueless," "delusional," "uninformed," "stubborn" and "unwilling to change course even when confronted with new facts that undercut previous theories."

Come to think about it, those are the same words I think about when I focus on the words "President Obama" and "leadership qualities" as well.

Either way, they are NOT what I would want to see in a principal.

Plus who wants to see all that illegal wiretapping and waterboarding going on in the school system?