How to Keep Superintendent Turnover from Disrupting Student Progress

Like drivers rubbernecking at a car accident, many people I know in education are watching the debacle unfolding in the Chicago Public Schools, where the school board recently quit en masse and the mayor seems intent on forcing out the superintendent.

Meanwhile, officials in New York City, home to America’s largest school district, are getting acclimated to their fifth leader in 10 years after the most recent superintendent abruptly resigned amid multiple investigations. In Atlanta, where I live, we’re on our fifth superintendent in the last decade as well.

Cincinnati; San Diego; Yonkers, New York, and other urban districts have also experienced turnover this year. According to ILO Group, roughly 20% of the superintendents in the largest 500 school districts change each year, an increase from the 14% to 16% range cited back in 2010 by the School Superintendents Association.

Amid all these changes in leadership, the education nonprofit I lead has learned to partner with superintendents while they are in place, as well as make sure that when turnover does happen, the churn doesn’t become a distraction and impede student progress. The key to success is making sure leadership is not held by a single person within a single organization — especially since most superintendents end up being short-term presences — but by many people who are stalwarts and have deep roots in the community. 

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