Pat Finley, GSE ‘06, and Damon McCord, GSE ‘04, graduates of Bank Street’s Educational Leadership program, recently authored an opinion piece in Chalkbeat titled “We’re co-principals. So why won’t the Department of Education treat us this way?” Finley and McCord are the co-founders and co-principals of Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School in Forest Hills, New York.
In the article, the authors describe their collaborative, shared leadership model that, while relatively uncommon, has proven to be extremely effective in the success of their school. They explain the benefits of co-principal leadership and discuss a recent proposal they submitted to the Department of Education, which calls for the department to create an official co-principal model.
“We are hopeful that the city will follow the lead of New York State, which has realized that this innovative leadership model works for some schools and has added specific language regarding co-principals to state regulations… Now is the time for the city to use existing structures to showcase models that demonstrate that the system is not “one size fits all,” but a place where innovation is embraced.”
Their hope is that—should their proposal be approved—they can broaden the often-narrow definition of effective leadership and inspire other schools and school districts to explore innovative approaches and structures.
Click here to read the full Chalkbeat article.