Call Me Skeptical,

but I don't believe a word of this study which claims one-fifth of principals "leave" after a year or two given the fact it is virtually impossible to fire them.

They either move to other schools in the district or they move up the career ladder to the central office when they screw up:

About 20 percent of principals new to a school leave that posting within one or two years, leaving behind a school that generally continues on a downward academic slide after their departure, according to a study released last week by the RAND Corp. on behalf of New York City-based New Leaders.

“The underlying idea is that churn is not good,” said Gina Schuyler Ikemoto, an author of the report and the executive director of research and policy development for New Leaders, formerly known as New Leaders for New Schools. The nonprofit group recruits and trains principals to work in urban districts.