Developing District Leaders: A National Superintendent Certification Program | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights

Developing District Leaders: A National Superintendent Certification Program | LFA: Join The Conversation - Public School Insights:

Developing District Leaders: A National Superintendent Certification Program

By AASA, The School Superintendents Association on July 3, 2013

By Daniel A. Domenech, Executive Director, AASA, The School Superintendents Association
In 2015, we will be celebrating AASA’s 150th anniversary, and as we arrive at this milestone, we are proud to announce the official launch of the AASA National Superintendent Certification Program. Working with our new partner, The SUPES Academy, we have been hard at work planning a robust experience that will focus on sharpening the skills that successful superintendents acknowledge are needed to thrive on the job, and provide a relevant experience for our members. As I have traveled across the country in planning this program, it has been made clear that the political and economic pressures of the job are exacerbated by growing intrusion into local control and a prevailing attitude that educators do not have the solutions and indeed are part of the problem. Our certificate will help our members strive in these difficult conditions.
The school district is often the biggest “business” in the community it serves, managing the largest budget and supervising the greatest number of employees. Yet the superintendent’s position was created to be the community’s educational leader, not the CEO of its schools. Times have changed, and clearly today the superintendent must be both- we are proud that our programming will help address the challenges that arise when trying to be both an