New Orleans joins a handful of cities whose districts give autonomy to public school principals. Following the lead of school districts in New York City, San Francisco, and Oakland, California, Recovery District superintendent Paul Vallas aims to give principals authority to hire their staff, as well as control over their budgets, according to The Times-Picayune.

Following a charter school model, principals in the state-run New Orleans schools will have the independence to recruit and hire their own teachers and academic support staff, and control the use of federal Title I grant money, beginning next school year. In the latest issue of Principal magazine, authors Steven Adamowski and Michael J. Petrilli weigh in on the issue of bridging the autonomy gap.