SUPERINTENDENTS SEE CAREER AS CHANGE

School superintendents use an apparent revolving door when it comes to sustaining long-term tenures in the nation's school systems.

All but gone are the days when top school officials spent the majority of their administrative careers in a single district. Now, the average superintendent stays with a district 7 1/2 years before moving on.

In larger districts, the average shrinks to two years.

"I think the complexity of the role has been somewhat of a factor," said Jackson schools Superintendent Ron Anderson, who has held the lead administrative position in four Nebraska and Missouri school districts over the past 24 years. He will complete his first year at Jackson.

School officials said the No. 1 reason they leave jobs is their relationship with their school boards. Other reasons to leave are salary and benefits, career advancement, and personal satisfaction.

"That's why its so important there's a good fit for the school district and that particular board, and with the school superintendent and that community," said Dr. Dan Steska, in his first year as Cape Girardeau schools superintendent. Steska held one other superintendency for four years.

"I've heard it said that the number one task of a school board is to select a superintendent that is most effective for that particular time in a district," he said, "but five or 10 years later, you may need a different set of strengths to meet a different set of challenges."

School officials said being superintendent is a political job, and elected school boards and special-interest groups can make it difficult to do the job well, especially in large, urban school districts.

A case in point: The District of Columbia School District has had eight school chiefs since 1970. The most recent, Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, quit last month after two years, citing too much of the district's control belonging to independent, local, state and federal groups as her reason for leaving.

There are numerous other examples, including the revolving door in the Kansas City, Mo., School District. The district has had 19 people fill its top job in the past 30 years.

"In Kansas City and St. Louis, you'll find a lot of inner-city politics, and the size and the political agendas of individuals sometimes become more of the focal point than what's best for the kids," Anderson said.

Most Southeast Missouri superintendents have worked at their districts fewer than eight years, but Dr. Bob Biggs, Chaffee schools superintendent, said area superintendents have a shorter learning curve because they're spending their careers in the region.

"From my observances here in the Bootheel, while there might be a pretty good turnover, they stay pretty close to home," said Biggs. "There's a closeness in Southeast Missouri that doesn't exist in many areas."

Biggs said most school districts have more similarities than differences, but it helps superintendents to be familiar with the educational and political climate before taking a position. Moves to other states or even other regions of a state can make a difference in support from colleagues and dealing with students and the community.

Biggs speaks from experience. He has worked in four school districts in three states during his 15-year career as a superintendent, including three years at Chaffee.

That tenure ends July 1, however, when he begins a new job at Pleasant Hope School District in Polk County north of Springfield, Mo. Biggs said his decision was made to move closer to his wife's relatives.

"Most folks pretty well stay in one state," he said. "That's the sensible thing to do."