Virginia sees spike in superintendent turnover
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More than 40% of Virginia's K-12 public school districts had at least one new superintendent between 2019 and 2024, according to national data collected by Superintendent Lab and reviewed by Axios.
Why it matters: The Trump administration wants to empower local schools by dismantling the U.S. Department of Education.
- The catch: Turnover among systems' leaders is evidence of school districts' instability, as they struggle with teacher shortages and falling test scores.
The big picture: The Trump administration's push against federal mandates in education is based partly on the notion that local school officials best know how to shape their schools.
- Virginia Board of Education leadership and conservative-leaning groups have applauded Trump's move to close the department and give local governments more control.
- But many education advocates fear public schools' problems are likely to get worse as the Department of Education fades away — especially if resources decline.
Between the lines: School districts' instability has been most apparent in the constant turnover among systems' leaders. Superintendents' firings and resignations have soared across the country, often following conservative swings on local school boards.
- The lack of consistent leadership at the top prevents many school systems from adopting long-term, effective plans, advocates say.
By the numbers: Roughly 42% of Virginia's K-12 public school districts experienced at least one superintendent transition from 2019 to 2024.
- 22% of all Virginia districts experienced a superintendent transition between 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Meanwhile, Virginia students saw some of the steepest drops in the country on reading and math scores during the pandemic — and a last year's national education report showed they're basically unchanged two years later.
Zoom in: Last year, five Central Virginia school districts, including Chesterfield and Hanover, saw their superintendents step down.
- While Chesterfield's supe retired, Hanover schools' longtime leader Michael Gill resigned largely at the urging of its new, more conservative school board, WTVR reported.
- Last month, Goochland County School Board abruptly fired its superintendent after less than two years on the job, in a move some in the community said was politically motivated, per WWBT.
Meanwhile, Spotsylvania County's been through three superintendents in as many years.
- In 2022, the first action by that county's new conservative majority school board was to fire its decade-long superintendent, only to replace him with "a controversial candidate with no educational background," WRIC reported.
- That one was fired last year by a newly elected school board, which soon after hired Clint M. Mitchell for the role. Mitchell has "19 years of educational leadership experience in Virginia school systems."
The state, too, has seen frequent turnover in its superintendent of public instruction.
- Last month, Gov. Youngkin appointed Emily Anne Gullickson to the post, making her Virginia's third CEO of public schools under his leadership.