School directors in Spain are calling for a comprehensive reform of their position, which they describe as increasingly stressful and unattractive. On Friday, the two main federations representing primary and secondary school leaders, Fedeip and Fedadi, presented a report at the Congress of Deputies containing a series of proposals aimed at professionalizing the role. The document advocates for higher salaries to reduce the current disparities between autonomous communities, which can reach up to 400 euros per month. It also calls for more rigorous selection processes, deeper training, and a simplification of bureaucratic tasks to allow directors to focus on pedagogical leadership.
Toni González Picornell, president of Fedadi, highlighted that while a formal schedule exists, the reality of the job requires permanent availability 24 hours a day. He noted that administrative, pedagogical, and legal demands have grown exponentially, requiring complex functions that are not adequately compensated. Currently, director supplements vary by school size and region, ranging from over 1,000 euros per month in large centers in Madrid and Cantabria to less than 700 euros in Extremadura and Canarias. González Picornell argued that a salary matching these demands would motivate qualified teachers to take on leadership roles.
The current conditions have led to a situation where thousands of public schools across Spain's 19,336 centers struggle to find volunteers for the position, forcing education departments to appoint teachers involuntarily. While official global data is lacking because some regions like Andalusia do not publish these figures, data from communities that do report vacancies suggests that unoccupied positions can reach or exceed one-third of the total annually in places like the Balearic Islands, Asturias, and Castilla-La Mancha. This disengagement negatively impacts the education system, a concern echoed by a recent OECD study linking school leadership quality directly to teaching and learning outcomes.
Vicent Mañes, former president of Fedeip and contributor to the report, described the current situation as a "non-model" of school direction lacking a theoretical corpus or specific competencies. He criticized the existing training requirement of just 120 hours, which is less than one-tenth of an official master's degree and is often waived when no candidates apply. The federations propose approving new regulations, starting with a royal decree on directions, to reinforce training without creating a separate body distinct from the teaching staff.
A key proposal involves granting directors greater autonomy in managing human and financial resources. This would allow them to define teacher profiles linked to the school's educational project, such as requiring specific experience in digitalization or social inclusion. Currently, assignments are often based on seniority or scoring lists, which can result in teachers arriving who are unfamiliar with or unwilling to work with specific methodologies. While this approach has faced criticism from unions regarding potential nepotism, it has been tested in Catalonia and supported by the association Axia if limited to a small percentage of staff, such as 15%, and conducted with transparency.
The report also addresses the overwhelming administrative burden that directors face, which includes planning documents, budgets, contracts, enrollment processes, and maintenance issues, often while still teaching. The federations propose making teaching duties voluntary for directors to avoid conflicts when urgent administrative or disciplinary issues arise. Additionally, they suggest a mentorship program for the first two years of a director's tenure, pairing new leaders with experienced mentors to facilitate peer learning and experience transfer.
Sources: El País Educación.