Starting Point
Talent Transfers
 School Administrator, November 2020

IT WOULDN’T SURPRISE ANYONE working in K-12 education if the superintendency sustained a larger than usual exodus of talent at the end of 2020-21. Always a pressure cooker, the job has taken on extraordinary public stresses in the coronavirus age, full of uncertainties, ambiguities and emotional demands.

Several states with large numbers of school districts indicated they’ve not seen any evidence yet of a larger than normal turnover, but many of those decisions may be announced in the next few months as superintendents notify their governing bodies about their June intentions.

This month’s magazine focuses on an array of career transitions. You’ll read about the experiences of several first-time superintendents whose hirings and relocations to new school communities have taken shape in the midst of the COVID-19 shutdowns and self-quarantines and what it’s been like for search firms in the business of filling such vacancies.
 
You’ll also read about some practical considerations and cautions when moving from a superintendent job into higher education, an increasingly appealing transition. AASA’s most recent decennial survey found 39 percent of respondents expressing a desire to teach college-level courses upon exiting the superintendency.

I’m betting more than a few readers will identify with the sentiment of Jan Irons Harris in her piece, “I Failed Retirement."

And don’t overlook the second installment of our Thought Leadership Series, a Q&A/conversation between bestselling author Dan Heath and superintendent Joe Sanfelippo of Fall Creek, Wis.

Looking forward to your reactions to any of the above.
Editor, School Administrator
Voice: 703-875-0745
E-mail: jgoldman@aasa.org
Twitter: @JPGoldman