The United States of America has committed itself to educational reform. Nearly every state has enacted new legislation aimed at school improvement. Reports decrying the poor state of American education are released regularly. Our weak performance on international assessments has dealt our national pride a serious bout of shamefacedness, and our politicians leap to declare that school improvement must be a national priority. The calls for reform are easy to hear; what is critically less clear is what that vision for reform might be and how to achieve it in the second largest service profession, next to that of health. The changes must be systemwide, forceful, convincing, and rapid. However, like a swimmer stranded offshore without land in sight, choosing the wrong direction in which to move can lead to results equally as devastating as staying put.