December 2025: School Administrator
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Additional Articles
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Public Is the ChoiceHow the 2025 National Superintendent of the Year has extended appealing school choices to students and their families across his large county school district in Alabama. He describes taking full advantage of new state legislation intended primarily to boost non-public schools.
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From Failing Grade to Foundational LessonAfter her school received a D on the state report card, the author, a former principal, examined and explored channels for growth and upward change. The author recently retired after 26 years as the principal of Oakdale Elementary School in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
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Contract SpecificityHow detailed are superintendents’ contracts when it comes to job duties?
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AI Strikes AgainOur panel analyzes whether a professor should confront an aspiring superintendent for using AI word-for-word in a group project in an advanced degree program.
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Sex Offenders on School GroundsWith few states addressing this issue when related to parents, local school officials are left to develop sound policy and exercise discretion.
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The Case Against Board Adoption of Strategic PlansOperating against conventional wisdom to prevent board capture and shifting of attention from student outcomes.
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Investing in Support Staff: Not Always About MoneyOvercoming hiring barriers without budget increases.
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Changing the NarrativeIntegrating community activities and engaging on social media helped the ܲAVƵpresident reframe his district.
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The Power and Promise of PeopleMoving AASA’s Public Education Promise forward as a shared vision for the future of public schools.
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Sidelight: Leslie SparacelloA Sidelight on a Texas superintendent who sings in a weekend party band.
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Inspiring Each StudentA forward-thinking superintendent in Eden Prairie, Minn., with a human-centered approach.
Staff
Editor's Note
Democratic Engagement That Matters
Earlier this fall, I tuned into an hour-long livestreamed presentation led solely by the superintendent of the large county school system where I reside during which he thoughtfully and engagingly (with a measured dose of humor) laid out the necessity for $2.7 billion to address massive infrastructure needs over the next six years.
The superintendent, Thomas Taylor, was realistic in his call and opened his remarks by saying he considered the subject worthy of a discussion involving the community at large in Montgomery County, Md. I anticipate he will follow through on his pledge to deliver what Derek Gottlieb and Jack Schneider label “ongoing institutional openness.”
In this month’s cover story about reframing public education’s narrative, co-authors Gottlieb and Schneider detail what they think it will require to take on the crises that threaten to undermine the stability of public education. In its simplest form, what they seek is an equal partnership in educational matters that expands public participation and proactively secures constituent engagement.
Taylor and other superintendents seem to be in full action mode in such pursuit, and as the grandparent of three young girls just beginning their public school careers in Taylor’s schools, I am hopeful he can preserve everything we treasure most about public schooling.
Jay P. Goldman
Editor, School Administrator
703-875-0745
jgoldman@aasa.org
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