August 1, 2023

The New Year

I spent two weeks visiting school campuses during the second part of July, the sort of seventh inning stretch of the summer for school people. It's the time when the long haul summer program staff is weary and a little wistful as they head into the last weeks. A few teachers have slipped in the side door to work for an hour or two in their classrooms before sneaking off for lunch, hoping to avoid the "what did you do this summer" gauntlet for a few more weeks. There's a louder buzz in some administrative offices where the development team is poring over the annual report, and the enrollment director is touring a new-to-town family. Heads are taking their last break out of town or just returned ready to enact the pre-season plan. In this issue, I offer a brief forecast for the year ahead, and resurface one of my most widely read pieces, The Year of the Faculty. This year should be Year of the Faculty, Part 2, with the addition of a multi-year plan for making a quantum improvement in compensation.