Where do bad decisions come from?

Honestly, I just can't figure it out. Where do bad decisions come from? How are really critical decisions made? I know that generally there are reasons why people act in the ways that they do. I have been heartsick this week because of a situation regarding (what in my view) was a terrible decision.

School change is such a complex process. I'm not sure how how many educated people actually understand this process. I am in the midst of it (and I have been for a number of years), and I certainly don't understand all of the factors. It is such a complex process. However, I do know that leadership is the critical variable. I'm working in a very difficult school located in a very difficult district located in probably one of the most economically disadvantaged city in the country. The school is only difficult because of resources and situation. The staff of this school is amazing - from the bottom up. I have worked with one of the finest high school principals that I've ever met for the past year and a half. She has been accessible, supportive, and extremely well liked by her staff. She knows how to make things happen in a day and time when that is not an easy skill. She keeps the staff motivated to succeed and focused on the students. She maintains an orderly climate in a challenged city. She provides programs and activities for students so that they have something positive to focus on.

Over the weekend this principal who I admire and respect deeply, learned that she was fired. This district where she has worked faithfully and with integrity simply threw her to the curb. After 25 years of teaching English and over 10 years as a principal in a popular high school, her contract was unceremoniously "non-renewed." I guess this is the nice terminology for fired. I am angry, hurt, puzzled, and heartsick. I've only worked with this woman for a year and a half and I feel this way. I can only imagine how others who have known her for years feel. I'm still stunned. I've written to the powers that be and the city newspaper. A friend of mine this morning told me to write to President Obama and congress. I'm thinking about it. I just might. I am so incensed with the unfairness and stupidity of this decision. In an age when we need the best people leading our schools, we get the best ones thrown out. To think that one person can change the achievement level of a school makes no sense. Improved achievement is going to take change and hard work from all constituents - teachers, students, administrators, parents, and the community. Until we all work together and stop the blaming, it simply will not happen.