People don’t leave jobs, they leave bosses.

The title of the video below is “Rock Bottom.” It is apt title and well worth your viewing time,

Educator customer service needs to be at the top of the list of things we need be addressing this BOE election cycle. Our best principals understand and work at this every, single day. I am not sure Central Office understands this, and that is a HUGE concern for me as a parent.

Key Point: Great educators are tough to recruit. They are even tougher to retain. It is far cheaper and less labor intensive to keep great people.

How we treat people matters. And if you think I am gonna be quiet about this…forget about it. We used to be able to attract great teachers in Kingsport with strong salary and benefits packages. While we are still competitive in those areas, other systems have caught up. That means other things matter. People want to work in a place where they are valued and treated well.

And here is the rub, younger generations are all about balance. Our best principals in Kingsport already understand this. They are naturals.

My message to prospective teachers looking at any school system. Find a way to talk to staff members who will give you the low down. You want to work in a place where you are treated well. You want to work for a principal who will get their hands dirty. You want to work for a principal who will take a late night phone call when all you-know-what has broken loose that day. You want to work for a principal who values creativity and provides constructive and helpful feedback. You want to work for a principal who sees people before numbers. You want to work for a principal who shoulders the burden, and doesn’t pass the buck.

I have witnessed two wonderful schools get completely gutted. Why? Higher-ups couldn’t see past a narrow band of assessment numbers in an otherwise healthy school. At that same time, we also refused to support a great principal. We lost a great principal in one of those buildings, and multiple members of that staff followed this principal to another school in another system. Neither school has recovered. How do I know this? Those with connections are zoning out of them.

Our best educators have no problem finding a new job. The great thing about the teacher evaluation system? All of our teachers now have published and accessible ratings and current eval data. That means other systems can poach our best people if system culture continues to be ignored.

Many educators in our region are accepting $10,000 bonuses to take lateral jobs in adjoining school systems. We have teachers, administrators, and entire buildings which are under-recognized. That is a lot of money to turn down if you are a good teacher. Less meetings? Better recognition? Less arrogance? Freedom to create great lessons without oppressive pacing guides? And a signing bonus to boot! That isn’t a tough decision.

I encourage everyone to watch Principal Lamb’s reel about why he got fired from his first job, and what he did when he got another admin job. What did he do differently the second time around?

He invested in people. Sound familiar? He made educator customer service a priority.

ProTip: Respectfully, I don’t care what candidates “say” about this issue. I want to know specific actions where they are prioritizing our teachers, listening and acting in regards to specific, system culture issues. Actions > talk.