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Five years after the pandemic, superintendent turnover in the nation鈥檚 top 500 districts hasn鈥檛 settled down. 

Leadership changed hands in 114 of those districts 鈥� 23% 鈥� within the past year, a jump from 20% the year before, according to data, shared exclusively with The 74, by the  from ILO Group, a consulting firm. The project 鈥� the only current publicly available resource on leadership turnover in the 500 largest districts 鈥� listed about 15% of districts replacing their superintendents prior to the pandemic.

One surprise outcome of that turnover is an increase in female superintendents: Women now represent a third of district chiefs, up from 30% last year. Of the 114 new chiefs, 44 were women.

But even with those gains, it would take another 30 years for women to reach parity with men in district leadership, the authors said.

To Julia Rafal-Baer,  CEO of ILO Group, this year鈥檚 results offer a mixed picture, coming just days after the latest scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The results showed declines in reading for 12th grade girls and in science for all 8th graders.

鈥淭here is a continued destabilizing of leaders at a time when we really need to have a coherent agenda that is driving instruction,鈥� said Rafal-Baer, also a member of the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the NAEP program.

Even so, she was pleased with the gains for women.  鈥淚鈥檓 encouraged by the fact that we鈥檙e starting to see some meaningful progress.鈥� 

Superintendent turnover happens for myriad reasons 鈥� from stagnant student performance to disagreements over salary. But it鈥檚 clear that COVID and the cultural debates that followed 鈥� embroiling districts in disputes over mask mandates, 鈥渁nti-racist鈥� curriculum and sexually explicit books 鈥�  transformed the nature of the position. 

鈥淚t’s always been political, but it’s never been so partisan,鈥� said Gustavo Balderas, superintendent of the Beaverton School District in Oregon. Since 2011, he has led five districts in the Pacific Northwest and will leave next year to become of the Puget Sound Educational Service District, a regional agency in Washington.

On top of local concerns, today鈥檚 superintendents have the added weight of responding to threats of funding cuts and policy shifts from Washington, Balderas said. 鈥淚 was just visiting a school 鈥� that had a family deported.鈥�

鈥榃orn out鈥�

Researchers who focus on the superintendency and school board politics echoed Balderas鈥� view. Rebecca Jacobsen, an education policy professor at Michigan State University, said district leaders are 鈥渨orn out.鈥�

鈥淚 think that the toll of the past few years continues to ripple and really push people out,鈥� she said. Several faced personal attacks, including , from angry members of their communities. 鈥淔or many who entered education 15-20 years ago, this is not the landscape that one envisioned.鈥�

The skills superintendents bring to the position sometimes don鈥檛 match the demands of the job, added Rachel White, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin and founder of the Superintendent Lab, a source of research and data on district leaders. Most were teachers and principals before moving to the central office and spent years overseeing instruction, finance or teacher development. 

Now they鈥檙e responding to social media, and the 鈥減roliferation of misinformation and disinformation campaigns often rooted in ideology,鈥� White said. 鈥淭his has shifted what superintendents are increasingly spending their time on 鈥� debunking stories being told about what is happening in their schools and classrooms that simply are not true.鈥�

As was the case in 2022, some of the turnover is due to school boards firing superintendents before their contracts expire. Since January, the in Georgia, the district in Tennessee and the district in Florida have fired their chiefs.

Most leaders, however, leave on their , sometimes because they鈥檙e seeking a new challenge.

Mary Elizabeth Davis spent nearly seven years as superintendent of Georgia鈥檚 Henry County Schools, overseeing the suburban-Atlanta district during a period of growth in both and . She eliminated a $12 million deficit and built teams to support instruction, facility planning and operations.

Last year, she started over in Cherokee County, another metro Atlanta district, where she aims to keep board meetings more focused on core academic issues rather than  just building projects and the budget. They still need to keep the public informed about finances, but 鈥渋t is no longer the only thing,鈥� she said. 

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In Davis鈥� part of the country, women are still the least likely to be superintendents, the data shows. Twenty-two percent of chiefs in the Southeast are women, while the Northeast has the highest percentage of female district leaders 鈥� 46%, or 17 of the 37 districts on the list. 

This year鈥檚 report also delves into the routes leaders take to the top job. 

In 2018, when ILO began collecting the data, fewer than half of superintendents were internal hires. Last year, the majority, 58%, were hired from within, and about 40% had served as an interim superintendent in their district before the board officially gave them the job. Moving up within the same school district is slightly more common for women than men, 55% compared to 50%. 

Over a 20-year period, Cliff Jones worked his way up from teacher to of the Fulton County Schools in Atlanta. Once he entered the central office, he said he 鈥渢ook notes鈥� during a time of leadership turnover and learned the importance of communication in making relationships work with the board.

鈥淭he more successful superintendents that I saw were trying to be out in front, trying to create proactive communication,鈥� he said.  

Newly hired as the superintendent in Horry County, South Carolina 鈥� with an unusually large 12-member board 鈥� he has work to do. He said he doesn鈥檛 want to just be a 鈥�911 guy,鈥� contacting members when there鈥檚 an emergency. 

鈥楶riorities and values鈥�

Not all candidates spend that much time in a deputy or other cabinet position, which Balderas said is likely one reason why turnover remains high. He calls it 鈥渓eadership compression.鈥�

Among the 500 districts in ILO鈥檚 analysis, 10 male leaders skipped straight from principal to superintendent. They include , named interim superintendent of Texas鈥� Conroe Independent School District in May, and , who took over in February as acting chief of the South Bend Community School Corporation in Indiana.

鈥淧eople are just bypassing roles鈥� instead of serving four to six years in a mid-level role where they might tackle some of the same challenges as the superintendent, Balderas said. Maybe, they鈥檙e 鈥渓ess prepared to understand the political navigation that鈥檚 needed鈥� to stay in the position long enough to make lasting improvements. 

After leading multiple districts, Balderas said it鈥檚 possible to work with a politically divided board. He tried to build connections with members by taking on other responsibilities in the community outside of the education sector, from the local chamber of commerce to the Rotary club.

People active in those groups 鈥渟ee that you care about your community,鈥� he said. That word 鈥済ets back to your board in one way or another.鈥�

Despite division among board members, districts can stay focused on academic improvement, said Davis, who was hired in Cherokee on 4-3 vote. 

鈥淚 think that when you start from that position, you have a lot of work to do to understand the priorities and values of individuals,鈥� she said. She met with each board member, hearing concerns over teachers spending their own money on supplies and a desire for more presentations on student data. 

Having a divided board was familiar for Davis. The Henry County board hired her on a 3-2 vote. During her tenure, public meetings turned into over a mask mandate and a in 2023 that kept students locked out of the internet for nearly a month. 

But she had plenty to celebrate. The majority-Black district saw enough to come off the state鈥檚 list of failing school systems and a 9% increase in students scoring at the proficient level or above in .

鈥淚’ve never seen harmony as a requirement for effectiveness,鈥� Davis said. 

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