Call it what you want: building management skills, growing a new crop of potential leaders, or simply planning ahead. However you want to describe it, there is a real need in Massachusetts.

Fact: In recent years, school districts have found it increasingly difficult to fill many important positions. In some cases, few (or no) qualified candidates even apply.

If you accept the premise that today’s teachers are tomorrow’s school administrators, we must redouble our efforts to develop more leaders within the teaching ranks. We have to do it immediately.

Of course, some positive efforts are already underway. To help fill the gap, professional organizations such as the Massachusetts Association of Secondary School Administrators (MSSAA) and the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators (MAVA) have established their own programs to train teachers to enter administration. MSSAA runs a Leadership Licensing Program (LLP) and a Leadership Licensing Program – Superintendent (LLPS). MAVA runs a Leadership Academy for Middle Managers (Leadership Academy I) and a Leadership Academy II to train future Directors and Superintendents.

The Massachusetts Association of School Business Officials (MASBO) runs a licensing program for aspiring School Business Managers. The Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (MASS) runs an Induction Program for newly appointed Superintendents.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) helps fund many of these programs.

These are all commendable efforts, but more must be done.

As a veteran school administrator, I believe that school districts and their leaders have an obligation to help fill this management vacuum. And I think we can do it, with little cost or effort.

Here are five specific ideas for school superintendents to consider:

Idea #1: Enroll at least one staff member annually in an MSSAA or MAVA leadership program.

• Advantages: Constantly develops management skills, at a reasonable annual cost of $2,000-$8,000. You may be eligible to receive funding through one of the district’s federal entitlement grants.

• Possible negative aspects: There is a cost. Teachers who receive the training may leave the district.

Idea #2: Establish internship programs at the school so more teachers get licensed to take administrative jobs.

School districts already have teacher mentoring programs. Simply expand yours to include an internship program for aspiring administrators. In a formal program, pair aspiring administrators with current administrators who are willing to share ideas with their protégé and guide them through a series of hands-on projects.

• Advantages: There is little or no cost to the district. And it’s easy to get such programs approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary Education and Education. Upon successful competition, teachers obtain administrative licenses.

• Possible negative: Mentors are needed for each of the teachers. Teachers need to put in hundreds of hours of work to get a license. Teachers can find confidential information. Teachers who receive a license may leave their district.

Idea #3: Allow teachers to participate in the budget development process.

• Advantages: No cost to the district. Simple way to train teachers to develop annual spending plans. Many aspiring administrators have no experience in this key area.

• Possible negative: Teachers may have access to confidential information. Current administrators lose some measure of control.

Idea #4: Get teachers involved in real planning on topics important to the school.

Include teachers in self-studies and planning for Coordinated Program Reviews and regional accreditation team visits.

• Advantages: No cost to the district. It gives teachers hands-on experience in areas of planning that administrators actually encounter on a regular basis.

• Potential Negatives: Teachers are likely to discover problems within the school that they were previously unaware of. Current administrators may feel the loss of control.

Idea #5: Let the teachers do some of the real “heavy lifting” at school.

Don’t isolate them. Get them involved. Ask them to make substantive presentations to the School Council or School Committee. Ask them to make presentations at the Municipal Assembly or the Municipal Council.

• Advantages: No cost to the school. Honors Public Presentation Skills. Many aspiring administrators, while comfortable in a classroom setting, have no experience presenting to large public bodies. This is a key skill.

• Potential Negatives: Teachers are likely to discover problems within the school that they were previously unaware of. Teachers can make mistakes in public. Current administrators may feel the loss of control.

Astute superintendents will note that these ideas cost little or nothing. They do not require a tremendous amount of work on the part of the district. And they do not require additional staff.

But they have a big payoff: They help aspiring managers develop key skills. And they help develop management skills in the teaching ranks.