Schools Top Goals in Naming Women as Administrators

The percentage of women appointed to administrative posts in the Los Angeles Unified School District has far exceeded the long-range goals set by the district, according to a new report.

“This is wonderful,” said school board member Roberta Weintraub, who led a successful drive in 1979 to settle a federal lawsuit out of court.

The report, required annually under terms of the suit’s settlement, shows that the percentage of assistant principal, principal and administrator jobs given to women each year since 1980 has outstripped the goals.

Since July 1, 1980, women have been promoted to 80 of 117 elementary school principal posts, or 68%. The settlement set a goal that 60% of grade school principals be women.

At the secondary school level, 28 of 63 new junior and senior high school principals are women, a less dramatic gain than in the other job categories but still ahead of the long-range goal of 40%.

The district has stopped counting how many assistant junior and senior high school principals are appointed because the goal of 50% has been reached.

When the lawsuit was filed in 1979, 17% of secondary high school principals and about 38% of elementary principals were women.