Why Rob Stein Is Leaving Manual High School
Rob Stein, the former Graland Country Day School headmaster who was hired to turn around struggling Manual High School, will leave his post next school year. Stein, 50, who was hired in 2007, doesn't have another job lined up, reports The Denver Post, which notes Stein's progress in improving the school, but also that "student proficiency remains low." In a separate take on the departure, EdNewsColorado writes that student proficiency rates on state exams have more than doubled at Manual under Stein, who explains his departure: "I've had 28 straight years by the academic calendar doing lunch duty, running faculty meetings...the last 14 years as a school principal. I admit there's a certain amount of fatigue that comes with it, but it's a fatigue that I think I've earned after three decades, not a burnout. This is really just more of my recognition that I need a change." Shortly after Stein was hired, Jeffrey Oliver profiled him for 5280, noting, "While many agree that if anyone can help Manual, it's Rob Stein, many of them also say the school can't be helped."
Comments
Submitted by Joy Hakim (not verified) on Mon, 2010-04-26 09:51.
When a gifted educator like Rob Stein leaves a school system, the community has cause to wonder why and what can be done to make its schools a mecca, not a place to flee. I'm off to Washington, D.C. this week to a focused meeting of educational leaders concerned with national issues. I moved to Denver 10 years ago assuming I could make an impact, or at least participate in the local school scene. What I found was a tight school bureaucracy with a significant budget that is closed to new ideas. It's an educational environment without intellectual excitement.
