An idealistic school administrator in an upstate New York suburban school district struggles to cope with his bosses" politically expedient decisions aimed at protecting a few incompetent and unprofessional teachers to the detriment of the students and the quality of the instructional program. At the same time he worries that he is a long way away from his career goal of becoming a superintendent, and his deteriorating relationships with his superiors may trap him in his current, dead end position. Deciding that it is time to take an extraordinary step, he seeks to become a superintendent in a small school district in the Catskill Mountains. He vows that his decisions and actions will be just and reflect what is good for students and the quality of the instructional program. The maelstrom of teacher tenure, destructive board of education politics, excessive union influence and bad education law threaten to destroy his career as he strives to make improvements and adhere to his professional values.