D.C. Public Schools has some chronic problems keeping good principals around. Over 250 principals have turned over in DCPS in the last ten years, and as research consistently shows that effective principals are characteristic of effective schools, it’s time D.C. start recruiting, training, and (perhaps most importantly) retaining strong school leaders.

Over the weekend, the Post covered Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s nationwide recruitment efforts to attract new principals to D.C. schools. The District has launched a $180,000 national advertising campaign aimed at wooing school leaders, and is seeking out educators with a proven track record of student achievement. DCPS was awarded a $2 million federal grant, yet to be distributed, to assist with principal initiatives, including $1 million for an in-house leadership academy providing training for current and future principals. So far, the district has received over 500 applications, and they’re still looking. Anyone have any friends who are school turnaround experts?

Right now, there are 17 “interim principals” currently administrating in D.C. public schools who will be assessed at the end of the year, after which parents and teachers will participate in principal interviews before the permanent positions are offered. Other positions may be filled depending on schools positions that open up.

What’s worth noting here is that the reform areas Rhee has already been targeting – building repairs, inefficient central office bureaucracy, providing textbooks, etc. – have been criticized as not being directly linked to student achievement, yet wrestling with these issues are often where D.C. principals find their time and energies being consumed, rather than on students and teachers. If everything falls into place – more well-managed buildings in the hands of proven school leaders who are supported by a functioning central office – the students will be the first to benefit.