Letter: District should upgrade role of school principals

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2003 | 8:56 a.m.

I'd like to add a bit to comments by Howard Ginsburg in a letter published Aug. 12 in the Sun. He retired to Las Vegas after 30 years of teaching in a depressed area of New York City. Among other opinions, he wrote that leadership from the school principal is crucial.

I have taught in public schools since 1954, and I taught in a Las Vegas junior high school from 1991 to 2000, so I have some basis for the following opinions:

If the School Board and Superintendent Carlos Garcia really wanted to do something to improve the schools, the way they treat the role of the school principal would be a good place to start. It's not that we don't have a few good principals; it's that we have so many that are merely highly paid place holders, and no one seems to care.

OWEN NELSON

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