Harvard-educated teacher can't be principal in Tennessee

Ashley Croft's teaching resume reads something like this: Bachelor's in education from Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. Master's in educational leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Six years of teaching experience, including being recognized as a Distinguished Educator of the Year in 2013 by the Tennessee Education Association.

Despite the credentials and experience, Ashley Croft can't become a principal in Tennessee — not under the state's licensure process.

Since 2009, the state allows only for principals to graduate from an approved in-state college or university master's program. Out-of-state applicants must have at least three years of experience as a principal to receive a license. For Croft to advance her career, she will have to leave.

"I certainly understand why the policy exists, so someone isn't coming from an out-of-state diploma mill," Croft said. "But that's sorta throwing out the baby with the bathwater."

Recently, Croft and her sister, Marissa, took aim at the process by filing an online petition on Change.org telling the state to amend its policies. So far, the petition has gained more than 700 signatures.

"We grew up playing teacher," Marissa Croft said. "I was always the student, and Ashley was always the teacher. And that's what she wanted to be — through high school, Vanderbilt, teaching in Nashville — and then she felt like to make more of a difference, she needed to go further."

So Ashley Croft went to Harvard in 2013, a school heralded for recruiting the world's best and brightest.

"You don't say no to Harvard," she said.

It wasn't until she enrolled there that she found Tennessee's licensing process doesn't recognize Harvard's program. That is because the approved secondary schools teach to the state's Instructional Leadership Standards, aimed at setting high standards for effective leadership based upon research and best practice, according to Ashley Ball, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Education.

A teacher could ask for a review by one of the accredited universities, but it is costly and not required by law, Ball said. And Croft was told by the universities, despite holding a principal's license in Massachusetts, that she would have to enroll in a Tennessee higher education institution, repeating what she learned in Boston.

The education department is reviewing its licensing process, but Croft sees no other choice but to pursue her career elsewhere.

"I love teaching in Metro," she said. "And if I am going to leave, it's not for a teaching position."

Her situation has frustrated those who oversee her work at Isaac Litton Middle.

She has good reviews, and Metro Nashville Public Schools has spent time and money preparing her to be a leader.

"She is definitely ready," said Chara Rand, the school's assistant principal. "She just needs the opportunity."

Croft also has set herself apart, Principal Tracy Bruno said, by leading a teacher professional learning circle once a month to help find ways to better teach kids. And the teacher also sometimes fills in for Rand as a backup assistant principal.

"She went to one of the most highly regarded universities in the United States, if not the world, and the state is telling her she can't be a principal here," Bruno said. "If we lose her, it's a blow to the system. And it's a blow to the state."

Reach Jason Gonzales at 615-259-8047 and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.