It seems as though every day, we have another new idea for the perfect strategy to create the perfect school. Make class sizes this big, require teachers to study this much, make the school day this long. Build more windows, have more grass...you name it; it's being pitched as the education panacea.

We have to stop. Instead of trying to mandate the perfect school, how about we try the perfect policy: freedom in the profession.

The fact is, teaching is excellent when teachers are excellent. There is no perfect model, only perfectly wonderful teachers who bring their own models to the classroom.

I have seen it all, and I have seen it all work. Or fail.

In New Mexico, there is a highly innovative charter high school that features classrooms with 90 students, 90 computers, and four master level teachers responding one on one to each student. Those same teachers mentor students in highly complex, commercial quality business projects featuring an emphasis in the arts, technology, marketing, any emphasis the students can defend. The school buzzes with creativity as students move from classroom to projects, and consistently achieves among the best in the state.

Unfortunately, I have also seen several examples of classrooms where about 25 students, 25 computers and two teachers are creating absolutely no energy or excelling to speak of. The students and teachers alike are just marking time...barely. It's like a land of the lost.

On the other hand, the traditional classroom is still a big favorite, and often times the most exciting place to be. At the BASIS charter schools in Arizona - often cited as best in the nation - teachers fire questions at eager students who use personal white boards to respond quickly and get individual feedback. These schools are notable for the way their teachers hire each other. The interviewing, hiring, training, and evaluation is all done by the master teachers at the school, and they recruit worldwide from those eager to be part of an incredibly vital and professional teaching community.

Knowing the excitement that exists in these teacher led communities, I am sick when I hear - often - that school board members nationwide agree to union drafted contracts that force them to keep teachers who cannot or do not teach, or have abused their positions by violating students in some manner.

Teaching is not a job for everyone. It takes a strong academic foundation, and a huge ability to maintain enthusiasm and discipline with hundreds of students every week. It is not for the poorly educated or the feint of heart.

Unfortunately, we have populated our schools with too many people who should be working elsewhere. They simply do not have the ability or the desire. And instead of replacing them, our school boards and school leaders agreed to teacher contracts that are about job protection and special interest power bases. They can't - or won't - fire those who deserve to be gone.

People who cannot teach cannot inspire individual students; much less invent successful school models. And instead of replacing them with teachers who would love to teach and who are expert at new and more effective models... schools simply hang onto the subpar staff they have, ask for money for "professional development", and look to the government system to invent a one size fits all model they can simply passively accept.

It fails every time.

Memorize this: schools are great when teachers are great.

There is no best model; there is not a single approach that works. Kids can succeed in traditional classrooms, in front of computers with teachers aside, at home on a computer, in classes large and small...all depending on the quality of the teachers involved.

Unlike teaching models, however, there may well be a single successful government model. Pack the public's school investment into the students' backpacks and let them choose the model and school that works for them.

Nothing will be more important for the future of the teaching profession or the success of American schools. Trust educators to bring their best models to the market - as they have done with thousands of public charter schools, online schools, magnet schools and private schools. And let families choose the best from their own perspective.

There is a small but emerging group of competitive schools and innovative teachers in the public school sector, mostly owing to charter school laws and efforts such as Teach for America and Troops to Teachers that recruit exceptional and highly academic people into teaching...always end-running traditional, tired and uninspired routes.

Our focus should be on the expansion of these effective efforts. Bring more highly capable and innovative people into the profession, let them create school and open the schools up to the market - and the leave the task of creating one size fits all models to the historical scrap heap of bad ideas.

We need the geeks out in force and in control of our schools.