A friend of mine has a favorite old saying, “Ride the horse in the direction it’s going.” Like most sage advice, it is right almost all of the time. However, when it comes to school reform, I’m getting off the horse, sometimes called school turnaround models. I refer to the four approaches to school reform as the “termination models.” I am dismounting because I can see where this horse is going and I don’t like it. In fact, all school leaders need to get out in front of this horse. Why? If this slash-and-burn approach is being promoted with Recovery funds, why wouldn’t these same provisions be included in the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind? I am betting that they will be in any new legislation and the “terminations” won’t stop with the bottom 2% of schools.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not against firing people who don’t, can’t, or won’t do the job. However, I am about fairness. Fair is training school leaders, giving them quality professional development, making it possible for them to attract and retain top teachers, fully stocking their schools with quality equipment, and using a modern value-added approach to measuring student achievement.

These “termination models” represent an admission of failure—we don’t know how to turn around schools, and we are not willing to find out or ask. All that these models do is buy time.

They are the most recent version of “activity equals success.” I can hear it three years from now, “Look what we did. We implemented all these changes and these schools still didn’t improve.” In the meantime, there will be a lot of bodies of principals and teachers left in the wake and a profession in fear and disarray.

Here is what bothers me most. These approaches are targeted at the poorest schools in the most depressed neighborhoods. In most cases, these schools are merely a reflection of their surroundings. Those who live in these communities often have no voice or are reluctant to speak up. Instead of being a voice for them, these expeditious and short-sighted approaches are punishing them and their schools. Try pulling this stunt with a middle class school that is not performing to expectations.