Launched just over two years ago, New Leaders for New Schools (NLNS) recruits and trains outstanding prospective principals who lack conventional credentials and puts them on a fast track to public (and charter) school leadership positions. An article by Alexander Russo in New York-based City Limits magazine describes some of the challenges the program has encountered in its first two years as well as its prospects for the future. Only one of ten applicants is accepted into the program, which will train 70 prospective principals next year in Chicago, New York, and Washington/Baltimore. The fifteen candidates in the first cohort ranged in age from 26 to 56, and half came from outside education. After completing a summer's worth of classes and a 10-month paid residency (at $45,000) under the supervision of a mentor, thirteen of them found jobs as principals, seven of them in new or charter schools. Breaking into traditional neighborhood schools--even for internships--has been a challenge, but the program expects to continue to expand. In New York City, Chancellor Joel Klein has already announced a principal-training program of his own that includes many NLNS features.
"Making change: Fast forward," by Alexander Russo, City Limits, May 2003