From the Field · Originally shared on LinkedIn by Gary D. Soto (August 2026)
Eleven percent of public-school principals left the profession in a single year.[3]
That figure comes from the national follow-up of principals who served in 2020–21. The issue is bigger than a vacancy. When a school’s improvement work lives in one leader’s head, a transition can scatter priorities, routines, and trust.
A healthier system does not ask a new principal to start from zero. It gives leaders a clear instructional direction, a team that knows how decisions are made, and coaching that turns the plan into repeatable practice.
That means building leadership capacity beyond the principal’s office. Teacher leaders need real roles. Site teams need evidence they can act on. District support needs to feel coherent at the school level. Collective Efficacy grows when people can see how their work connects and know they are not carrying it alone.
For more than five decades, Gary D. Soto has worked in education with a consistent conviction: reform should improve what students experience, not create another cycle of adult activity.
Gary D. Soto Consulting helps district and site leaders strengthen instructional leadership, align improvement efforts, and build practices that can outlast a leadership transition.
If your district is preparing new principals, rebuilding a leadership pipeline, or trying to keep school improvement from resetting, message me or connect at https://garydsoto.com/card/.
#PrincipalLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #CollectiveEfficacy #SchoolImprovement
Sources
[3] NCES Principal Follow-up Survey — ies.ed.gov — Roughly One in Ten Public School Principals Left Profession in 2021–22