The Longest Civil War: Teachers vs. Administrators

In this post, I’m trying to understand the disconnect between Administrators (Principal’s Assistant Principals) and Teachers. As we are coming off of Christmas Break, and starting a new term, I’ve been seeing alot of posts on social media that say things like, “Tell Admin. To save the email during the break.” or “Admin.’s are disconnected from reality.” or “Should Principal’s govern with an iron fist?” Why? Why all the animosity? Why all the anger? Why is there such a huge disconnect? 

Now let me preface the rest of this conversation by stating that I am a school administrator and I have been a school leader for the past 11 years. I am currently an Assistant Principal of a Charter School in the Bronx. Charter school vs. Traditional Public School, another hot topic and debate that we can talk about in a whole other post, but for right now, we will dive deeper into this controversy of Principals vs. Teachers. 

What Are We Arguing About?

When I read articles or social media posts that are anti-administrators it stings and produces a visceral reaction. Then a few other things come to mind, why do we make blanket statements about groups of people. The same way that we say not all white people, not all black people or not all people of color are the same, then why are we saying that all administrators are the same? A close friend of mine, who is a teacher said, well Shanique, if it doesn’t apply to you then there’s no reason to get offended, if you’re getting offended it’s because maybe you do the things that are being referenced.” Hmmm, so then I started thinking and as I reflected there are some things, like sending emails over the break, but the emails I send on Holidays or breaks are never work tasks or notification of some sort. It was a Happy Holiday’s email or have a great weekend. I actually never send out tasks and information emails over the break because please believe that if you send me an email on the weekend or during a break, I’m not answering! I’m so serious about my personal time and I encourage all of my staff to do the same. 

Then I thought about other things that the posts were referring to that depict administrators as bad people: like the administration of state testing during a pandemic. Do I ask teachers to proctor them? The answer is, Yes! Do I believe in them? No, I believe that state exams are steeped in racist practices that serve to block Black and Brown children from equal access to opportunities. I believe that some form of assessment must be administered because we have to be able to accurately assess whether or not children are learning from the instruction we provide. I believe that State Exams need to be revised to make them accessible to all children and they should not serve as gatekeepers to opportunity. However, it is what is required by most schools in the country and is an argument that myself and other educators are currently trying to fight, and this is also a topic that deserves a whole other post to itself. 

Other thoughts which probably separate me from some leaders, I think all administrators need to teach a class. So whether you are a Principal, Assistant Principal, Dean of Students, Instructional Coach/Dean, whatever leadership title you hold at a school you need to teach one class a day, because you can’t tell people what to do, when you can’t do it yourself, I really am a practice what you preach kinda’ Lady! I often hear teachers become disinvested and lose respect for administrators who can’t do the things that they are asking their staff to do and I agree, because what happens is leaders start to make decisions that are not grounded in reality because they no longer have or can understand the experience. But alas, this is also a topic that can be a whole other post. Long story short, I’m a different kinda’ leader! But I also know that there are lot’s of leaders like me, which brings me back to my original point, which is, you can’t make blanket statements about groups of people. 

The Message

I think the message prior, is a perfect segue into the actual message of this post which is: We will not succeed in instituting effective education reform that serves the needs of educators and our children if we are divided! Boom Kat Pizzow! Okay, So let that sink in, and then read on! That’s  the overall message here, and I would hope that all these well intentioned educators can understand that. We complain that educators are not respected, We complain that we are often blamed for all the world’s ills, we complain that we are expected to solve all the world’s problems, we complain that educators don’t get paid enough, we complain that we don’t get the opportunity to make decisions, but I strongly believe that the reason why these things are allowed is because we spend entirely too much time fighting amongst each other. It is the perfect distraction! As long as we are constantly at war with one another, playing a titles game, we can’t see the bigger issues, the laws, and policies that are being passed which actually affect our way of life and that of our scholars. As long as we stay grounded in the argument, we can’t see the impact of systemic racism, inadequate resources, and all the other major issues that plague us, because we are too busy being upset about the email that we got over the weekend, which you can choose to not open or respond to! And I know, I already hear the responses, “ No I can’t, if I don’t I’ll get written up or worse, I’ll get fired!” and I have some ideas about these things as well, which are for a later post! LOL!

The battle of Principals vs. Teachers is one of the longest standing civil wars, I have ever seen! For as long as I have been an educator, it has always been Teachers vs. Principals, but what I have learned over the years is that we are all pawns in a bigger system that unfortunately makes blanket statements about us and our children. A bigger system that is not equitable for all. A bigger system that consistently devalues its people and tends to serve a political agenda vs. an educational agenda. A bigger system that has moved away from learning and has become about big business! And unless we stop catering to the SMOG, it will continue to consume us and prevent learning from taking place in the classrooms and for the scholars we love so dearly.  So think about that y’all! What are the small, petty, arguments that we are engaging in that keeps us divided and keeps us blind to the bigger issues? Let’s not fight amongst each other based on meaningless titles, but instead look for ways to collaborate to solve smaller issues so that we can put all our energies towards the bigger issues. If you are an educator who truly wants to see meaningful education reform take place that will create safe spaces and equitable realities for all, educators and scholars alike, then make a conscious decision to work together, and  collaborate as educators regardless of title, so that we can truly provide equal opportunities for all children and educators!