Abstract
Responses gathered in a recent study of the superintendency in the Pacific Northwest suggest that less than 25% of sitting superintendents in the year 2000 were under the age of 50; and 40% of those who were 50 years or older planned to retire within the next four years. While the pool of potential applicants includes over 1,000 superintendent certificate holders, fewer than 150 of respondents in the same study planned to apply for upcoming vacancies. This article examines aspects of the position that serve as disincentives to seemingly qualified candidates and the policy ramifications of possible pool inadequacy within the given context.
Highlights
If the more than 500 superintendents (60% of all superintendents in the region) who participated in the study are representative of the region, the Pacific Northwest may experience a sizeable exodus from superintendent positions by the year 2005
Is the U.S, as a whole, experiencing a crisis in the ranks of school district superintendents? Arguments, both anecdotal and research-based, abound suggesting that a shortage of qualified applicants for available superintendent positions exists nationwide (Cunningham and Burdick, 1999; Cooper, Fusarelli, and Carella, 1999; Forsyth, 1999; Houston, 1998; McKay and Grady, 1994; Johnston, 2000)
The same is true of the Pacific Northwest
Summary
Responses gathered in a recent study of the superintendency in the Pacific Northwest suggest that less than 25% of sitting superintendents in the year 2000 were under the age of 50; and 40% of those who were 50 years or older planned to retire within the four years. Sixty-eight percent of these superintendents are between the ages of 50 and 59 years; another 10 to 15% are over 60 (Cooper, Fusarelli, & Carella, 2000). This is not a big-city or large-district phenomenon. If the more than 500 superintendents (60% of all superintendents in the region) who participated in the study are representative of the region, the Pacific Northwest may experience a sizeable exodus from superintendent positions by the year 2005
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