Leading a school district has never been an easy job, but people of color who take on these roles often experience unique obstacles that affect them differently than their white colleagues. That’s according to a recent report conducted by the nonprofit Education Northwest and commissioned by the Oregon School Boards Association, the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators (COSA), and the state education department.
Researchers interviewed 16 current and former superintendents of color in Oregon to better understand the reasons why the state is experiencing a “highly concerning free-fall" in the racial diversity of their district leaders. Their findings, and corresponding recommendations, outline a more sustainable path for leaders of color, not only in Oregon, but across the United States.
Student diversity is on the rise in Oregon, with nearly two out of every five learners classified as non-white or as speaking a language other than English at home, the report states. Yet as of summer 2021, less than five percent of superintendents in the state were people of color.
Hiring and Mentorship
Reversing this gap starts with intentionally hiring and recruiting non-white candidates, the report says. That means partnering with talent acquisition firms and universities to diversify the applicant pool for an open position. It also speaks to the power of local superintendent pathways that help teachers and administrators move up into leadership roles within their own communities, explains Tanisha Tate Woodson, a researcher for Education Northwest and one of the study’s coauthors.
“Each part of our state is very different culturally and politically, and we noticed that people thrive in these positions when they're familiar with the school district’s policies and they have cultivated relationships with the community,” Woodson says.
Research already demonstrates that community connection is beneficial to principals, and the same seems to be true for district leaders. Cultivating pipelines for local educators to advance into leadership roles in a district “will help administrators and particularly administrators of color to be considered eligible for superintendent positions,” Woodson explains.
Recruitment, however, is only the first step. Another critical lever of support superintendents in the study discussed was having more training on contract negotiations. Many didn’t know that school boards could include a no-cause firing clause in their contracts or make no assurance that a new hire would be able to stay in the district for at least 10 years. As a result, many new superintendents don’t negotiate those measures. While the risk of being asked to leave a leadership position without cause or early doesn’t only affect educators of color, nonwhite superintendents reported feeling especially vulnerable to this action, particularly as a response to their support and implementation of equity initiatives.
“A lot of women [colleagues] know me and have asked me to mentor them. . . . If they're going to offer you a position, call me before they offer you the position if you need help on the contract,” one superintendent reflected in the study.
That level of targeted mentorship and informal networking was another major theme that emerged from the study. Researchers recommended that state organizations, including COSA, provide networking opportunities and systems of support that allow superintendents from different districts to regularly meet and share knowledge.
Contending with School Boards
There is, according to the report, one other body that presents unique obstacles to superintendents of color: the school board that hires them. These are groups meant to represent the interests of the wider school community, but too often, political factors influence decision-making, says Woodson.
“They must be there to represent voices of those across the community. . . [but] a lot of times people lose sight of that,” she says.
As another superintendent testified in the study, “I know that [the board] loved me, but I also know that I was the constant reminder—even just walking in the room—that I'm equity focused or equity driven, and they don't want to give up their power to someone like me.”
The researchers recommended mandatory equity-focused training for school board members and specific requirements new members need to meet to take on the job. A bill currently moving through the Oregon State Senate includes a measure requiring ethics and equity training for new school board members.
Finally, safety is critical for the long-term success of superintendents. Psychological safety is a long-understood necessity for school leaders and teachers, but the researchers found that sometimes even superintendents’ physical safety was threatened. For some, especially woman of color, in these visible leadership positions, the researchers recommended stronger security measures at public meetings.
Growing Call for Diverse Leadership
The state of Oregon is not the only institution working to strengthen diversity in the superintendency. A superintendents academy created by Howard University has been working since 2015 to identify, train, and support leaders of diverse urban school districts. Last fall, Boston Public Schools Superintendent Brenda Cassellius argued that her state could increase the number of district leaders of color locally by allowing certifications to carry over state to state. And in a roundtable discussion from Education Week last month, Baron Davis, the superintendent of Richland School District Two in South Carolina, stressed that districts need to take strong actions to achieve equity in leadership, and those actions are intrinsically linked to equity initiatives for students as well.
While research has increasingly spotlighted the need for more superintendents of color broadly, the actual work of supporting and protecting them takes intentional investment from districts. And those hoping to improve the representation of their leadership might gain some insight from observing the informal work superintendents of color already do.
As a superintendent from the report reflected, “I'm a mentor for four Latina aspiring superintendents. . . . We all just keep paying it forward because it's a cycle. What we put out there comes back to us.”
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