Debunking the 'War on Travel': Why Superintendents Need to Expand Their Horizons

“Dr. Roberts has been on the road too much, spending agency funds to go to far-flung places like San Diego, Boston, Chicago, and Miami all within the past calendar year. If Dr. Roberts needs to learn new procedures and practices to improve his ability to serve, why does he need to visit a 4-star hotel and spa across the country? Why can’t he simply join virtual classes on Zoom, read articles, or attend conferences here locally? I heard that when Dr. Roberts attended a conference recently, he was invited to attend a fancy steak dinner with colleagues where wine was served after hours on a Monday evening! Apparently, he also traveled to visit colleagues to observe the work they were doing and bring ideas back here. We’re not running a travel agency here. We need to oversee Dr. Roberts’ travel time out of town if he’s going to serve here to ensure we get the best value for our investment in his salary!”

A commenter could easily deliver the screed above at a board of education meeting. It could just as easily appear in an op-ed in a local newspaper, perhaps penned by a local elected official or leader of a so-called advocacy organization. And, as we all know, we’re hearing official on-the-record comments from board of education trustees all over the country that say more or less what I’ve written above. I used my last name here to keep this discussion hypothetical and avoid comparisons to any individual situations superintendents are facing out there. 

Note that I carefully chose my words in this hypothetical piece. In our world, we assume “Dr. Roberts” is a superintendent, but imagine for a moment that you’ve been given a scary diagnosis from some recent medical testing, and this “Dr. Roberts” is the leading surgeon in the field who is scheduled to perform a procedure on you that will return you to good health. Re-read my hypothetical piece above through that lens. Could you imagine a world in which anyone would argue that a doctor at the top of their field should not visit a colleague’s hospital or attend a research conference where they could learn new techniques to improve their ability to save your life? A person making this argument about a medical doctor would not be taken seriously by anyone, let alone win an election to serve on the board of a public hospital. As superintendents, you are responsible for all students' academic and professional lives. Every district has at least a handful of very vulnerable students where the school is literally saving their lives, while others provide a full array of services that begin well before and continue long after the school day to help kids survive the challenges they face in their communities and homes. The idea that we’d tolerate or give oxygen to an argument that the agency's chief executive on the front lines of improving student outcomes should never leave the office to learn and improve their practice is insane. 

But make no mistake: A playbook has gained momentum throughout this politically fraught presidential election season that seeks to weaponize district leaders’ efforts to grow professionally and learn from experts and colleagues. From local news broadcasts to the op-ed page, to official policies being proposed by board of education members, this “war on travel” has gained momentum and threatens to further negatively impact the already skyrocketing turnover we’re seeing in the superintendency.

But this playbook only works if we give it oxygen by normalizing it as a serious conversation. If my hypothetical Dr. Roberts were a physician worth the ink printed on his credentials and degrees, he would dismiss outright the idea that he should not go to a national conference on his field of practice, even if it is in a place like Miami where it is sunny and warm year-round. He might even wryly suggest to a critic of his travel that if the conference were at the North Pole, he’d still need to get there because it would help him save more lives. But we’ve got more than snark to back our case that superintendents will be better at serving kids if we get out of the district office a few times a year to learn:

• Searching for and recruiting superintendents can cost districts thousands and take months to accomplish. Providing opportunities to foster superintendent success is a small investment in ensuring consistent leadership, which will deliver results in improving student outcomes.
• Today, the average tenure for a superintendent nationally is just one to three years. According to our internal research, the IEI superintendents have an average of 5 to 6 years tenure. Being an IEI member quite literally delivers value to each member district. Districts whose superintendents stick around longer deliver better results for kids. 
• At recent national conferences provided by IEI and others in our field, superintendents had the opportunity to attend workshops where they could learn a wide array of strategies and techniques, including:
   
  • How to improve literacy outcomes for all students, regardless of socio-economic background;
  • How to implement AI in district operations to save taxpayer dollars and streamline services to families;
  • Create strategies for engaging students in STEAM learning;
  • How to improve transparency and communication between the district and the families and taxpayers it serves;
  • How to close achievement gaps and improve graduation rates;
  • Implementing school-to-career pathways throughout a student’s career in our schools;
  • Building the district’s brand through social media and thought leadership;

• Whenever a district leader speaks or presents at a national conference, putting the district logo and color palate up on a screen before hundreds or thousands of colleagues, the district grows its influence and brand on the national stage. This helps the district recruit and retain educators and educational leaders and improves its ability to access funding sources outside the traditional taxpayer dollars. 

The people fighting against superintendents traveling would never demand that the surgeon who might save their lives never leave their office or operating room. It’s our duty not to roll over and allow a political playbook argument with no merit to wield any influence over how we serve kids. The counter-argument for why our leadership team must be curious and seek to improve our practice is obvious and appeals to every aspect of common sense even before you even bring up the above data points. Each scenario is unique, and there are some environments where this argument might best be made in public, while in other cases, perhaps it may need to be made individually to the board of ed members. But if we don’t make the obvious case for our desire to improve as leaders, what will be the next political hit job on the profession? Let’s not find out. See you at a great conference learning opportunity soon!

They should FOIA for your travel records and demand you be fired if you are NOT traveling.