With matters of admin, one can always google their name and find out through past write ups in local paper and other sources, the carreer path a principal for instance, has taken.

Short stints can indicate a 'problem' principal that may well be handed over to another district, rather than deal with the problem directly.

Its a well known technique in the catholic church anyway, well publicized of late too.

Sometimes head administrators would rather give a good recoommendation (or lets just say.....not offer to tell the whole story) to get a principal to move to another district. At any rate, never hurts to find out the path ones own leader has taken, and why job changes happened, if in fact they were frequent, could mean similar issues surfaced before.

Sad but seems it does happen. OUr kids desrve the best. But in times of applicant shortages, sometimes districts take second best. Its parent beware out there. Get informed , ask questions, and dont take silence for an answer. Silence usually means there is something they dont want you to know!

I forgot one:
or maybe the super/BOE is more afraid of causing displeasure to , or is more afraid of, the principal's supporters/friends/confidantes, than s/he is of the complainant/s....check into the local politics and family/business/social ties between high up admin and or BOE and the principal's main supporters and or those that got him hired...you might be surprised at what you find. Blood is thicker than water, they say. And blood doesnt have to be the usual kind, it can be business ties, standing in the community, etc etc etc. Heres an easy one, if youre a small town, who are the biggest tax payers and voluntary $$$ DONATORS to the district? Are they supporters/'freinds' of the principal? The super wouldnt want to uspest them..............

Fantastic points above. All of them. Well worth noting for all parents. Its for our kids that we parents document, document, document.

Those are the key things to do as first in line, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING as stated above.

I will add some things from my own experience:

It is true that the super IS the first in line for complaints ref the principal, BUT if s/he doesnt satisfy the parent/s and handle a complaint, then the state dept of ed is the place to file a formal complaint.

Ref documetation, at some point, it has to go via REGISTERED mail, or it 'didnt get received' is the 'out' the admin/super can use.

Ask for an answer to your mail, give a reasonable deadline, and call if you dont get a reply.

Make sure the super knows YOU know about the complaint process to the State Dept of Ed (google your state dept of ed and enter COMPLAINT in the search and you will find all the details, its a very simple procedure)

So if the super doesnt handle your complaint, s/he knows you will take it one step higher, where it WILL be investigated if deemed as necessary, and within a defined timeline. That alone should get you a better response from the super, the implied notion of taking it to the state level.

It is VERY important to realize one thing:

Supers/BOEs sometimes dont LIKE to handle complaints against the head of a school and will drag their 1000lb feet. WHY (my guesses):

1) human nature, let well enough alone
2) it hasnt hit critical mass, the complaints, or nature thereof
3) they dont 'like' the parent (you) or you have a bad rap in the court of public opinion (and the super believes in rumors or what the principal tells him/her about you without getting to the facts)
4) it IS a serious complaint/reached certain mass, but the admin doesnt want the ordeal of going through a search for a new principal
4) they dont think you will file the complaint with the State Dept or think you dont know your rights to do such
5) IF the principal is a bona fide bully and the super/BOE know it, administrators/employers (cuz its the super that hires the principal in some districts) are often more frightened of the bully than of the target (here, the parent) and will go to enormous lengths to avoid having to deal with bully.

I don't believe that the NCLB law has anything to do with the lack of respect this, or ANY, principal has towards parents. It's all about that principals desire to have total power and control over everything. I speak from experience.

You, and anyone else, should keep a notebook with a running tab of what this principal has done, or said, that was disrespectful, cruel, mocking, etc., or how he/she has taken it out on your children. Include any attempts at trying to resolve situations and how it actually turned out. Dates, times, etc. Make a photocopy of it or type it up on the computer. Then, take it to your superintendent. But do NOT hand over your originals. YOU need to keep those. Sounds like the superintendent doesn't want to deal with a bad choice for a principal. BUT, if there are enough parent complaints, you might be able to put together a grievence on the principal. Then the superintendent has to follow the rules for grievences. How do the teachers feel about this same principal? My guess is that there are a good many of them that are just as disgruntled as the parents. Strike up conversations with those who you feel comfortable. Get other parents to do the same. Compare notes, but be careful on how and where you do this. Even bullies have "friends". Some of these "friends" are friends only so that the bully doesn't go after them or their children.

The principal at my child's elementary school was unqualified to fill the position, but the superintendent and school board orchestrated her in because it greatly reduced the chances of a lawsuit from the former principal who was of the same ethnic background. So, the parents, students and teachers had to put up with 1 1/2 years of outrageous bullying from our principal. A grievence was finally filed by one of the staff members. Countless staff members, by this time, had requested moves to other positions within the district or had out-n-out quit because of the amount of stress this principal placed on everyone around her. Parents and staff supported the grievence. Teachers even had a second grievence on her. Our principal "went home sick" the same afternoon that the grievence committee was to meet. A little bit more "game playing" was done by our principal, then she finally resigned. Relief was felt by all in the school.

As far as going from a PTA to a PTO, the principal has no say in the matter. Parents ARE ALLOWED in the school, no matter what the principal tries to say or do. A parent group doesn't have to be based inside the school, whether it's a PTO or a PTA. It is a totally separate entity from the school. It works out nicer if the principal accepts parental help in the school. It shouldn't matter to him/her what type the parent group is.

If the principal tries to keep you out, make a bigger effort to be in the school. Don't let that bully push you or your child around. If you do have a confrontation with the principal, make sure you make it clear to him/her that you will not tolerate any bullying from him towards your child, or from any teacher or staff member towards your child. And if you find out of any, let him/her know that you will go directly to the superintendent with it. YOu tell this to the principal and most likely your child will never be given any problems. The principal knows it would look REALLY BAD on him/her if he did.

I speak from experience. Don't take any c--- from the administrators. Even the superintendent or school board members. You have rights. YOur child has rights. And like I said earlier, I'll bet there are a bunch of teachers that are just as unhappy with this principal as the parents are. Talk. Share information. Take notes with dates, times, etc. If there are no parents in the school, there are no witnesses. If there are no witnesses, the bullies can do whatever they want, which includes bullying the teachers, students, staff members, etc.

I wonder, too,...how has the budget been handled in that school building? Many times principals that bully aren't doing well with the budget. Are funds being spent inappropriately? This is something the school board and superintendent can't look away from.

The papers reported just last week on the nationwide shortage of qualified principals.....seems to be a pervasive problem with a known cause -- underqualified or underexperienced people leading our nations public schools. Whats a parent to do. Not all have choices.

I read all posts above, and it sound like same themes resurface, and one ref NCLB.
After talking to many many principals of public schools in various states, it seems the NCLB act and various other recent implementations of new programs, rub principals the WRONG way.
If they are acting out against parents and making life difficult, it may just be a reflectiojn of their own frustration with the heavey heavy load of paperwork and rules and regs handed down by bush and others.....combined with budget cuts left right and center.
School admin is a tough business to be in these days, and yuo combine that with demanding parents (who have evry riht to be so I might add) of this day and age, and that makes for one tough job in principalship.
I wouldnt want it but some of my best friends thrive in that envirmonent and do a splendid job for the kids and paretns alike and treat all fairly (but neverhteless complain about bush and other issues incl NCLB in private!!!).
School is lots about politics, its not just about education any more.