Here's a commentary from a principal obviously feeling the effects of accountability, restrictions, and the possibility of charterization.

Do you feal[ty] for him?

Read the entire editorial, link to references, read the comments, and post a comment of your own on edweek.org.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/02/...edweek#comments

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'Untie My Hands': A Principal's Plea
By Gerald N. Tirozzi

I am a school principal, and I’m proud of what I do—especially of my work’s continuing impact on teachers’ effectiveness and students’ learning. Because of this, I’m also committed to being held accountable for the myriad responsibilities principals assume, the most important being the improvement of student achievement.

But as you hold me accountable, I would ask that you give greater thought to a number of factors that affect my job. Here are a few simple requests:

Evaluate my performance comprehensively. ...

Allow me the time to complete the job. ...

Provide me with the resources and professional development to enhance my leadership. ...

Respect my time commitment and my schedule. ...

My work day generally begins between 6 and 6:30 a.m., as the first school buses arrive. It often ends between 9 and 10 p.m., as I finish my rounds at various school athletic events and co-curricular activities, as well as parent, community, and school board meetings. I could get others to cover these activities for me, but I want to be visible and support my students. And frankly, my absence would be interpreted as aloofness and indifference. I can’t take that chance.

I place a premium on personally working with parent groups and community organizations to gain their trust in, and support for, my efforts to improve student learning. In effect, my long school day underscores my strong belief that a successful principal must be seen, heard, and perceived as a full participant in all aspects of school life.

“Accountability must be a reciprocal process,” according to the Harvard University professor Richard F. Elmore. “For every increment of performance I demand from you,” Elmore explains, “I have an equal responsibility to provide you with the capacity to meet that expectation. Likewise, for every investment you make in my skill and knowledge, I have a reciprocal responsibility to demonstrate some new increment in performance.”

I’m already accountable. Are those who evaluate my performance prepared to reciprocate? Will I be allowed to select my own teachers and other staff members and make decisions regarding their performance—including termination decisions? Will I be given the opportunity to defend my school’s curriculum and professional-development program? Will I be provided with appropriate staffing levels? Will I receive the budget necessary to support the needs and requirements of my building and staff? If, in fact, I do receive such a reciprocal commitment, then holding me accountable for continually improving my performance is a fair and responsible action.

It is an irony of my working life that, should the various restrictions I face limit my ability to improve student learning to the level desired, my school might be reconstituted as a charter. And then the principal who succeeds me will have all the autonomy I don’t have. I’m simply asking for that autonomy now. Don’t lower expectations for me or my students. Just untie my hands so that I can work to meet them.

Gerald N. Tirozzi is the executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, in Reston, Va.