Teachers’ union posts survey on principals online

By Emily Richmond

Friday, April 1, 2005 | 11:28 a.m.

Teachers at about half of Clark County's 301 public schools have rated their principals and the results have been posted online.

The Clark County Education Association's annual administrators survey is designed to help teachers evaluate schools during "transfer season," which runs through the end of the month, said Mary Ella Holloway, president of the union.

At schools where less than 50 percent of the licensed personnel responded to the survey, the results were not released.

Clark County Schools Superintendent Carlos Garcia said the results carry little weight with him because he is not being told how the surveys were collected, or whether some teachers chose not to respond because they were generally satisfied with their administrators. "There's not much we can do with these responses," Garcia said.

The district conducts its own annual survey of administrators, teachers and support staff.

The teachers' union surveys rated principals in a variety of categories, including "demonstrates leadership," "respects teacher rights established by law or contract" and "is sensitive to racial and ethnic needs of students and community."

Holloway told the Clark County School Board at a meeting Thursday that the survey results reaffirm what she has told them for several years: While the majority of the district's administrators are hard-working and caring, a handful of rogue individuals are making life difficult for educators.

"Teachers don't leave a school because of the students; they leave because of the administrators," Holloway said.

To view the survey results for the 166 schools available, go to www.ccea-nv.org.