If all happy families are alike, then there's a common bond among all good schools, too: good principals.
Think about it. Have you ever known a great school to have a sub-par leader? Unlikely. As unlikely as thinking, "Gosh, I really love my kid's school. But the principal is awful."
A military unit can somehow be outstanding even under a poor officer. (Good sergeants make all the difference.) A local church can do great things with a preacher who's unsure of himself in the pulpit. Get enough outstanding athletes on a squad, and a team can overcome bad coaching.
But schools are different. A bad principal hiding in his office, or, even worse, forever interfering in everything to no good purpose, is a morale killer for all--teachers, students and parents.
Leave it to the Walton Family Foundation to know such things. It has awarded a $1.9-million grant to the University of Arkansas to help train administrators to work in the state's poorer school districts.
The idea is to train principals--and teachers who might one day become principals--on the best way to overcome problems specific to schools in depressed parts of the state. The program is called Principal Fellows, and over the next few years as many as 60 educators are to take part in this program.
Another day, another gift from the Walton Family Foundation to the people of Arkansas.
This is becoming a habit. And not a habit we'd like to break anytime soon.
Editorial on 06/30/2014