WHEREAS, assistant principals play a critical but often underappreciated role in the success of schools and the lives of students; and
WHEREAS, assistant principals help provide for the safety and security of school communities, the appropriate supervision of staff and personnel, and the proper management of school buildings; and
WHEREAS, assistant principals can have a tremendous impact on maintaining appropriate school climate, maintaining compliance with relevant rules and regulations, conducting teacher evaluations, and managing curricular and extracurricular activities; and
WHEREAS, assistant principals often provide training or other forms of staff development to shape instructional focus, address identified areas of educational need, and promote student achievement and school performance; and
WHEREAS, assistant principals are often the administrators in a school building with the most frequent and closest daily interactions with staff, students, parents and community-based organizations; and
WHEREAS, assistant principals are responsible for the supervision and administration of school buildings on occasions when the principal is not present; and
WHEREAS, over the past 25 years, the number of assistant principals across the nation has been steadily rising, and the role is an increasingly common pathway to the principalship; and
WHEREAS, assistant principals are often the confidants and sounding boards to principals, and some schools have shifted toward distributed and/or collaborative leadership models in which school leadership responsibilities are shared among principals, assistant principals and others;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the American Federation of School Administrators will continue to educate federal, state and local lawmakers on the role and value of assistant principals within school communities and, in every jurisdiction with a local chapter, the American Federation of School Administrators will support legislation that makes having an assistant principal in every school part of the statutory framework.