How to select an effective school superintendent - An opinion

Submitted by Debra J. Ackerman

August 16, 2016 3:21 p.m.

I moved from New Jersey to Nassau County in 2014, and thus have spent much of the past two years learning about the many plusses – and occasional minuses – of living in northeast Florida. One of the differences which I have found to be the most unusual is the election of our school district’s superintendent, as opposed to going through a business-typical model of searching, interviewing, and appointing someone based on their qualifications, skills, and experience.

Interestingly, just three states – Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi – allow specific districts to elect their local K-12 superintendents. Furthermore, 45 of the 49 states with local superintendents require these individuals to have prior experience as a licensed teacher or school administrator and/or a graduate degree specifically related to school administration. In contrast, Florida statute merely requires an elected candidate for superintendent to be a registered voter in the county in which the election is being held and reside in that county at the time of assuming office.

Both common sense and a significant research base suggest being an effective school superintendent requires something more than simply living and voting in a particular county. Of course, these characteristics will vary depending on the needs of a district.

However, the following factors have been identified as critical:

• Vision and goals for the district;
• Capacity to collaborate with internal (e.g., teachers, principals, school board) and external (e.g., taxpayers, local businesses, non-profit organizations which support the district) stakeholders;
• Instructional leadership: ability to plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate the district’s instructional and assessment policies, as well as provide relevant and ongoing professional development;
• Managerial leadership in terms of legal, financial, and personnel issues; and
• Capacity to serve as the “voice” of and advocate for the district.

Given that collaboration is a key aspect of being a superintendent, if a candidate already resides in a school district, he or she might be better positioned to “hit the ground running” in this regard. At the same time, due to the instructional and managerial leadership aspects of the role, one can see why the majority of states require prior experience as a classroom teacher and/or as a principal and an advanced degree (e.g., MA/MS, EdD, or PhD) related to school administration.

I realize that I am new to Nassau County and still have a lot to learn, especially in regard to the history of and intent behind Florida’s superintendent election laws. In the meantime, I am going to ignore campaign slogans and attack ads, and instead consider each candidate’s vision and goals in light of their prior classroom teaching experience; graduate degree related to school administration; demonstrated capacity to provide instructional and managerial leadership; and potential for speaking on behalf of and about our district.

In short, while Florida statute may not require Nassau County’s K-12 superintendent to have specific skills and experience, from my personal perspective, our students and teachers deserve the candidate who is most qualified to lead the district as it continues to build on its prior achievements and offer the highest quality education. Vote wisely!

Editor's Note: Debra Ackerman is a resident of Fernandina Beach and an education policy researcher and author. She received a BA in Liberal Studies and PhD in Education from Rutgers University. This article first appeared in the Fernandina Beach News-Leader and is reprinted here with the News-Leader’s permission.