Internal Survey
Principals 'Pass' DOE on Support

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

A majority of Principals who responded to city surveys expressed satisfaction with much of the support they were receiving from the Department of Education, with the exception of specific areas such as special education and student placement.

JOEL I. KLEIN: Getting 'valuable guidance.'

About 70 percent, or 1,024 Principals, responded to the survey sent out by the Department of Education in November 2007. The Principals were asked to rate the DOE and their support organizations in the academic arena and in terms of accountability.

Two-Thirds Approve

More than 70 percent of those who responded indicated that the DOE is supporting them in attaining their overall goals for their schools and 68 percent said they thought the school budget allocation process was fair.

"It is essential that school leaders have the opportunity to voice their needs and concerns, and more important, that these needs and concerns are addressed," said Council of School Supervisors and Administrators President Ernest Logan in a statement. "We are pleased that the majority of Principals are satisfied with the support they are receiving; however, there is more work to be done."

ERNEST LOGAN: 'Still work to be done.'

More than 90 percent of the Principals said they were satisfied with the services of their school support organizations, which were chosen by Principals in the spring to replace the services performed by the former regional offices.

While a large majority said they were satisfied with the quality of service provided by their school's special education instructors and counselors, only 54 percent said that there was sufficient service to meet the demand. A similar number said that they were satisfied with DOE's support regarding teaching and learning in the area of special education, and one-third said they were dissatisfied with DOE's support for English Language Learners.

'Holding Us Accountable'

Referring to Principals as "clients" of the DOE, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein said, "These results provide valuable guidance about areas where we are doing a great job and areas where more work needs to be done. We're publishing the results to help ensure that we're held accountable for improving Principal satisfaction."

He acknowledged that improvement was needed in the area of student placement. Almost 60 percent of Principals said they were dissatisfied with the transparency of the "over-the-counter" placement system, in which previously unexpected students are assigned to schools and must be placed in a classroom. More than 70 percent said they were unhappy with the way special education students were placed. Only about half said they received timely responses about admissions and student placement questions.

The Principals also gave the DOE some mixed grades in the area of technology, with a high of 86 percent being satisfied with DOE on-site technicians but only 45 percent saying the technology hardware available at their schools, such as computers and phones, met their needs.