The real advantage of the ‘best’ schools

In his Aug. 9 Metro column, “D.C. smart to tweak teacher rating system,” Jay Mathews wrote that “the best schools almost all share one advantage — a smart and energetic principal who has the power to hire teachers, assess them and pay or fire them accordingly.”

As a former teacher and successful principal for 14 years in three states (Texas, Massachusetts and Maryland), I can probably count nationwide these powerful principals on the fingers of both hands. “Paying and firing” is a power that school systems do not render to school administrators. If such principals did exist, though, they would certainly be able to affect teacher morale.

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As for producing more learning, the best schools do share one advantage: They have middle- to upper-class children with caring parents who encourage them to do their best and come to school every morning ready to learn. These children know little about being poor, hungry and unsupervised and living in unsafe communities.

Roberto Perez, Mount Airy