There may be a crescendo of advocacy across the nation regarding K-12 school reform. People from all walks of life are responding to calls to get involved in grassroots efforts to back changes that can raise the academic achievement of local students while also holding educators accountable. The leadership changes in school districts, venomous relations among school board members, and austerity measures as a result of shrinking state budgets are a sampling of recent events that may be causing the public to really take note of what is going on at the highest levels of school leadership. Media coverage that questions the dismissal of effective school leaders and displays how dysfunctional school board meetings have become allows people to truly observe and understand how some decisions being made have little or nothing to do with whether student academic performance is actually improving. The apparent sense of urgency at local levels is certainly being fueled by state budgetary cuts in education expenditures and the needless and raucous dealings of school boards in too many places. Parents and communities are wondering why the grownups in charge of schools are spending so much time arguing over matters that have nothing to do with what’s going on in classrooms. The public is confused as to why district leaders, mayors, and city councils continue to use old arguments to reject proven and innovative ideas to improve schools, while insisting on the utilization of systems and methods that have failed school aged youth for decades. The American public may not know what’s really going on in the trenches or behind closed doors, but somehow I get the sense that we’re at a place where people will demand more answers and accountability from those who have been making promises for years and failing to deliver. Perhaps the groundswell that we’ve been hoping for over the past decade has finally arrived as families, communities, and governments get a clearer picture of the shenanigans preventing real school reform.