CPPS’s work was recently featured in The Portland Tribune in an article titled “The Principal Problem”. Read the excerpt below, or read the full article online.

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At a time of year when principals across the district are being shuffled around, the Madison controversy is just the most recent example of the nagging dissatisfaction parents, teachers and others have with the processes the district uses to place and evaluate principals in school buildings.

The education advocacy groups Portland Stand for Children and Community and Parents for Public Schools made the issue a priority last year when they sat down with human resources administrators to adopt improvements.

While district leaders say the system has been “revamped,” some parents and teachers still report feeling stymied and stonewalled when they feel their principal isn’t a good fit for their school, the Tribune has found through numerous interviews.

“I taught in a school district for 31 years, have many friends who are teachers, and I have never, ever known of anyone asking me what I thought of my supervisor,” said Rick Barasch, who retired from the district last year after teaching in four elementary and middle schools. “Whether they were the world’s greatest principal or the worst principal. Most of my principals have been OK. But no one has ever asked me, and there’s something not right with that.”