Four words caught Dallas teacher Ryan Wade’s eye as he scrolled through Facebook one day: “Free tuition, no fees.” The advertisement was for a master’s program that could put Wade on track to becoming a principal, something he’s long considered. He clicked the link.

Now this semester he’ll start a University of North Texas at Dallas program aimed at addressing a dearth of principals in local school districts.

“We’re in need of good leaders,” Wade said. “I’ve seen what great leadership can do for our campuses as far as setting academic expectations, as well as creating healthy environments for students and faculty, increasing morale.”

Amid a growing teacher shortage, mental health strain among students and staff, the politicization of education, safety fears and other challenges, fewer educators are choosing to lead schools.

The number of newly certified Texas principals decreased by 50% from 2016 to 2022 — from 3,662 to 1,837, according to the Texas Education Agency. Meanwhile, the attrition rate for principals in the state increased almost 5 percentage points over the past decade, the TEA data shows.

But communities should brace for a “mass exodus of school leaders” that’s coming soon, said Ronn Nazoe, the National Association of Secondary School Principals’ chief executive officer.

In addition to a lack of teachers, principals do not have sufficient office staff, bus drivers, cafeteria and custodial workers in their schools, Nazoe noted. When those spots are empty, he said, it often falls upon the principal to try to fill the gaps.

“People have been sort of covering and double covering and triple covering vacancies on their campus, which means principals teaching classes, assistant principals teaching classes,” he said. “It’s a way to get by, I suppose, but it’s not ideal.”

Last year an NASSP survey found 38% of school leaders responding said they plan to leave the profession within the next three years. And, for now, the country doesn’t have a robust pipeline for new campus leaders to fill this space, Nazoe noted.

Tiffany Huitt, Dallas ISD’s chief of school leadership, said the district partners with universities such as UNT Dallas, Southern Methodist University, Texas A&M Commerce and Texas Tech University to create a local pipeline.

State data shows these four universities have helped more than 250 educators gain principal certifications since 2020 as the schools work to build the next generation of leaders.

Local partnerships

Wade will be in the second 30-student cohort of the UNT Dallas program aimed at developing future leaders in Dallas, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Lancaster and Duncanville schools.

The program, funded by a $650,000 Texas Instruments Foundation grant, is designed to give future principals a strong foundation in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, said program coordinator Shelia Brown, a former principal at Wade’s campus, the Marvin E. Robinson School of Business and Management at Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center.

“It’s important that we keep pace with the students that we serve, and that we are developing leaders who will be able to support our students in cutting-edge environments,” she said.

SMU offers would-be principals a one- or two-year school leadership master’s program. (SMU is a supporter of the Education Lab at The Dallas Morning News.)

The two SMU programs have produced more than 400 educators in the past decade. Director Roxanne Burleson said preparing future leaders for the challenges ahead is more important now than ever.

She said programs have shifted focus to teach resilience so educators can thrive during tough challenges, such as dealing with scarce resources and pressure to bring students’ test scores up to pre-pandemic levels.

“Last year was one of the hardest years I’ve ever seen in education,” she said.

Burnout, principals leaving

Oscar Spurlock III was a principal at DISD’s Jerry R. Junkins Elementary. But in the last few years, duties for campus administrators increased.

“I’ve seen suicide threats go up. I’m seeing more parents needing resources, parents that are homeless…these are just things outside of the classroom,” he said. “There’s just so many layers to everything now.”

He’s noticed a lot of resignations among colleagues recently.

At meetings, other principals frequently tell him they’re “so tired.” A Facebook group for local campus leaders used to be full of positive posts and comments, Spurlock recalled. But after the pandemic started, more were about burnout or noting that “I’ve got all these teachers out, and it’s stressful,” he said.

Instead of retiring, Spurlock sought a new position in education as an executive director for Houston schools.

Nazoe said Spurlock is not alone in leaving campus administration for higher-level jobs. Along with career advancement, principals are being recruited for more senior roles, such as superintendents and executive directors, at an increasing rate as those administrators leave.

Olga Romero was a DISD principal for five years and helped create Dallas Hybrid Preparatory at Stephen H. Jay.

This year, she was recruited to be an executive director in Fort Worth who helps oversee elementary principals in that district.

Romero wants to take what she learned about prioritizing her mental and physical health to help ensure Fort Worth’s principals take care of themselves.

“If the person who’s doing the work is not well, we won’t be able to achieve much,” she said.

Educators note that diversity and representation matters, so students can see more principals who look like them. About 53% of Texas students are Latino, 13% are Black and 26% are white.

State data shows Texas principals are slowly becoming more diverse. From 2014 to 2022, the share of Black and Hispanic principals increased by a few percentage points. A quarter of the campus leaders are Latino and about 15% are Black.

One of the reasons Wade wants to become a principal is so his students can have another positive Black male role model, he noted.

As he prepared for back-to-school, he hung up a few posters on his classroom wall. They read: “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone,” “Never give up, great things take time” and “The best is yet to come.”

They’re messages to his students, but also to himself as he takes this next leap.

He will attend UNT Dallas classes at night and teach full time as his high school’s career preparation coordinator. As a parent and product of DISD — he graduated from the school he now teaches at — he feels a responsibility to his students.

“So often, we leave our communities and our districts and our teachers and go out into the world to do great things,” he said. “It’s also important for us to come back and leave the next generation with some of what we received.”

CLARIFICATION, 10:15 a.m.: This story was updated to note that it is the Texas Instruments Foundation whose grant funding is supporting the principal training efforts.

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.