Four years ago, state officials warned that one-third of Iowa school administrators would retire by 2003, but that hasn’t happened. Troyce Fischer, executive director of the School Administrators of Iowa, says that mass exodus hasn’t happened — yet. She estimates the retirement rate is 20 percent rather than 33 percent. Fischer says the main reason is the hit many retirement savings accounts took when the tech bubble burst and stocks tumbled. Fischer says many superintendents and other administrators who’re eligible to retire but haven’t cite the high cost of health insurance as a factor, too. Fischer expects the retirement rate for school administrators to remain stable for the next few years. She worries, though, that fewer people are willing to enter the profession because of stress, long hours and red-tape. Fischer says there’s a potential supply of administrators since about 2500 educators have administrative licenses. She says many, though, are choosing not to apply for administrative positions. Roark Horn has been superintendent of schools at Northeast Hamilton for the past year and a half. He says in this time of tight budgets, administrators are making tough decisions about which areas get cut and which don’t. Horn says any teacher will tell you they can only do so much and a good school must have leadership at the top. Superintendents in Iowa must have a masters degree and at least 32 credit hours in administrative studies.
