Opinion: Story of Shirley Sherrod Similar to
That of School Principals

Published in "Northwest Voices: Letters to the Editor," The Seattle Times, August 3, 2010

Gary Kipp
Executive Director
Association of Washington School Principals

It sounds like the White House wanted Shirley Sherrod’s job without looking into the facts or even giving her an opportunity to offer her side of the story. Welcome to the world of principals in low-performing schools.

I would have thought those wanting Sherrod’s ouster would have at least given her the chance to share the rest of the story before making the decision she must go. Then again, that’s exactly what I would have thought about those in the Department of Education deciding to remove effective principals from schools seeking federal improvement grants.

In a nutshell, School Improvement Grants operate like this: If a school is not performing well, the federal government will give that school a large amount of money to turn itself around. To receive that money, however, the school must choose one of four options, all of which require removal of the principal. The rest of the story, if allowed to be told, would reveal that removing the principal would be counterproductive. But, the decision-makers are not local and they are not permitted to ask principals for the rest of the story. I am not sure that anyone ever asked Sherrod for it, either; thank goodness it is now public.

Once the White House learned the rest of Sherrod’s story, she received an apology, an invitation back and even an offer for a new job. That must have been a nice feeling. I wish our principals who have been taken out of their schools could experience that same feeling instead of the blame they are feeling today.