Thomas A. Hendricks Elementary Community Academy is a neighborhood school serving 230 students in Fuller Park on Chicago’s South Side. Before the 2024-25 school year, Hendricks’ relatively small size meant that Principal Anika Murphy generally didn’t have room in her budget to hire an assistant principal. Anika took pride in focusing on the student experience and the support her team gave her, but she recognized that being the sole administrator in the building was spreading her too thin. “Everything had to be done, no matter the size of the school, and it takes a toll on you,” she shared.
Assistant principals play an important role in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and are valuable to schools of all types. These leaders help share the administrative responsibilities of running a school, serve as valuable confidants to principals who would otherwise feel alone in their roles, and — in many cases — step into their principals’ shoes when they retire or move to another role. From 2016-17 through 2022-23, 155 of the 453 new principals selected in CPS (34%) were assistant principals promoted within the same school.
Because we see the value assistant principals offer to schools, The Chicago Principals and Administrators Association (CPAA) and The Chicago Public Education Fund have long advocated for every school to have the option and financial flexibility to have at least one assistant principal. Using local and state data, and direct testimony from CPS principals, both of our organizations stressed to CPS the positive impact assistant principals have on schools and their vital role in improving principal satisfaction and retention.
For 2024-25, CPS developed a new budget framework that identifies a base level of resources for all schools, regardless of enrollment. Critically, an assistant principal position was included in this resource base. This means that every school in the district has the ability to have an assistant principal (through what is called “foundational” funding) rather than having to divert money from other priorities in their budgets. As a result, the number of assistant principals in district-operated schools climbed to 651 in 2024-25, up from 618 in 2023-24 and 612 in 2022-23. A number of schools, including Hendricks Elementary, were able to hire assistant principals for the first time in several years.
Source: Chicago Public Schools; Employee Position Files, March 31
Upon learning she could hire an assistant principal, Anika set high expectations for the position. She was looking for “a partner for the work, someone willing to take on responsibility and hit the ground running, and someone who complements [her] traits.” Anika had trouble finding a candidate who met this high bar and fit with her leadership style, until Robin Tolbert’s application hit her desk. With over 20 years of experience as a classroom teacher and interventionist, Robin wasn’t initially sure that being an assistant principal was the right fit for her. However, when she interviewed for the job at Hendricks, she felt an immediate connection with Anika and the school and accepted the position.
Robin immediately jumped in and supported Anika’s instructional leadership in the school while beginning to build relationships with the faculty and students. “In my last school, I was there for 20 years, so that trust builds naturally over time,” Robin said. “Beginning to build those relationships was the No. 1 thing I wanted to focus on this year, so I could start to make an impact.” Anika strongly agrees that Robin is an excellent fit for Hendricks: “This was a match made in heaven. Robin checked all the boxes.”
Across Chicago, public schools like Hendricks have proven the utility of assistant principals, regardless of their student enrollment. “Even at a small school, there’s still always something else that has to be taken care of,” Robin said. Anika agreed: “Having Robin this year made me think, ‘you were doing this all by yourself?’”
Even putting aside the actual workload, principals benefit from another administrator as a thought partner and confidant. “This can be a very lonely job,” Anika shared. “Many aspects of my job are not things I can talk to somebody else about. Having a partner, someone to talk about what’s going on, is so important.”
As CPS faces a potential 2026 budget deficit of over half a billion dollars, many recent district investments could be at risk to balance the books. For many smaller schools like Hendricks, the foundational assistant principal position is integral for leaders needing extra support. Many principals believe ending central funding for assistant principals would severely harm their schools. Anika worries about what priorities would suffer if she didn’t have Robin’s support: “A lot of things fell off the table when I was by myself. This position needs to be here to stay.”
The article was developed in partnership with CPAA. It is also available on their website.
For another example of the importance of assistant principals in CPS, read “Why Every School Needs an Assistant Principal: Danielle Pearse Is a Partner in Leadership,” also on our blog.