School leadership is one of the most important influences on student performance, second only to quality instruction. However, year after year, we see Congress fail to allocate the funds necessary to ensure students, teachers, and school leaders can succeed. Even recently, we saw Congress pass a short-term continuing resolution that produced across-the-board cuts to a number of key education programs for the current school year. To make matters worse, the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations subcommittees of the House and Senate have both proposed significant cuts to Title II, Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) for FY 17, which can be used for professional development, residency and mentoring programs, principal evaluation system reform, and several other important uses that would support school leaders. With full implementation of ESSA to begin with the 2017–18 school year, it has become more important than ever for principals to advocate at the federal, state, and district levels for increased funding toward key education programs.
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