Policy decisions: Who really makes them?

Of the six questions that the class came up with regarding the Tyack and Cuban reading assignment I am most fascinated with "Why are policy decisions seemingly made by non-educators and what can be done to change that?" There is not a simple answer to this question. As we discussed last night the policy decisions are made by those individuals elected by the people to represent the best interests of the people. The concern becomes, how do they know what is best for education when they are so far removed from the classroom?
It has been disheartening to me over the years to see that once classroom teachers leave the classroom for the boardroom (positions on a school district level)they seem to quickly forget what it is like to be "in the trenches." Teachers get excited when one of their own receives a promotion to the district level and hopes abound that now there is someone in our corner who will be our advocate and yet new policies are developed on the district level that have little or no benefit for the students and required much more time, energy and paper work for the teachers. So not only are teachers overwhelmed with additional work but their hopes have been dashed yet again. If former classroom teachers lose touch with the classroom, how in the world can we expect politicians to make educated (pun intended)and responsible policy decisions regarding education and the classroom?