<HTML>One of the reasons I hear--emphasis on what I hear and decidedly NOT my
opinion--is that rabbinic faculty will not respect the authority of a non-
rabbinic head, woman or otherwise. Many co-ed schools find themselves
hiring rabbinic faculty more to the right than their missions. (This is
one of the challenges that places such as Bar Ilan will help address.)
Many of this right-leaning faculty are well-received and respected by kids
and parents, in spite of them not being a perfect fit for the school. In
other words, this faculty has clout in ways that may not fit the mission
of a school.
My opinion is that heads of school roles and responsibilities could be
clearly defined in ways that do not place the head in the position of mara
d'atra, rather as non-profit CEO. In such a schema, the head can have
under her/him a director of Judaic studies or even a rabbinic advisory
board to deal with certain clearly defined matters of halakha. I am not
implying that a woman/non-rabbi could not provide educational leadership
in Judaics. However, rabbinic faculty will inevitably question whether
someone without comparable yeshiva background can fill the role of
instructional leader.
FYI: Consider Beth Tefiloh Community Day School in Baltimore, whose head
of school enjoys an excellent reputation, as does the school.</HTML>
