This study examines the direct and indirect effects of principals’ managerial competence and educational facilities on education quality in public elementary schools in Pandeglang Regency, Banten Province, Indonesia, with teacher job satisfaction as a mediating variable. A quantitative approach with an explanatory survey design was employed, involving 125 teachers from A-accredited public elementary schools. Data were collected using a closed-ended questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale that had been subjected to validity and reliability testing. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4, supported by Microsoft Excel for preliminary data processing. The results indicated that all seven hypothesized relationships were statistically significant. Principals’ managerial competence and educational facilities had strong positive effects on teacher job satisfaction, while their direct effects on education quality were comparatively moderate. Teacher job satisfaction also had a positive effect on education quality and partially mediated the relationships between both principals’ managerial competence and education quality, and educational facilities and education quality. The model explained 90.1% of the variance in teacher job satisfaction and 88.3% of the variance in education quality. These findings suggest that improving education quality requires not only effective school leadership and adequate educational facilities but also strategies that enhance teachers’ job satisfaction. The study is limited by its cross-sectional design, its focus on A-accredited public elementary schools, and its coverage of a single regency, which may constrain the generalizability of the findings. This study contributes to the literature on elementary education management by highlighting teacher job satisfaction as an important mediating mechanism linking managerial competence and educational facilities to education quality. The findings provide practical implications for local education authorities, school principals, and policymakers in developing holistic, teacher-centered quality improvement strategies.
