State lawmakers making school leadership a top priority

A Florida program that helps military veterans become principals and a Colorado effort to train school turnaround leaders are examples of state legislation passing this year that focuses on school and district administrators, according to a new policy “snapshot” from the Education Commission of the States.Their scan of state legislation related to leadership shows 13 laws enacted relating to administrator preparation, leadership and licensure, and 14 relating to induction, mentoring and professional development, such as Alabama’s two-year Principal Mentorship Program. Rhode Island passed a law that keeps an individual administrator’s evaluation private, extending the same protections provided to teachers, and 10 states passed legislation relating to compensation, incentives and contracts.