Rep. Davis, Sens. Franken and Bennet Introduce Legislation to Improve Principal Recruitment, Training Efforts

Press Release

Today, U.S. Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), and Rep. Susan Davis (D-Calif.) have put forward a key legislative proposal to help struggling schools by making key investments in the recruitment and training of effective principals.

TheSchool Principal Recruitment and Training Actwould create a new competitive grant program to recruit, support, and prepare aspiring and current principals to lead high-need schools. According to University of Minnesota research, school leadership is second only to teacher quality among school-related factors that impact student learning.

"An inspirational principal at the helm can make an enormous difference in a school's direction," said Rep. Davis. "Currently, only five percent of federal funding for teacher preparation goes toward principle training. This legislation would provide resources for communities to recruit and train a new generation of strong school leaders with the ability to inspire academic success and turn around struggling schools."

"Our schools need great principals to succeed," said Sen. Franken. "But unfortunately, too few principals are prepared to lead high-need schools. This legislation would change that by investing in proven strategies to recruit and train high-caliber principals who take the next step in making our schools the best they can be. As Congress works on a comprehensive reform to our country's K-12 education policy, I will be pressing to get this measure included."

"Recruiting and training quality principals is vital to improving our public schools," said Sen. Bennet. "Effective principal leadership can increase student achievement, attract and retain great teachers, and transform school culture.We have to do a better job of recruiting, training, and supporting our principals so they, along with our teachers, can help students learn and succeed. This bill will help create high-quality training programs that produce great principals."

Source