This paper questions whether relationships between teachers and researchers can in fact be called collaborative. It is asserted that they are collaborative in only the generic sense of the term and do not meet the specifications denoted in the paper for equitable collaborations. Examples of innovative types of relationships in which university researchers and school teachers work together are examined to see whether they fit within the bounds of equitable collaboration. The paper concludes with a description of a research relationship that closely approximates equitable collaboration through a separation of the work of university researchers and teachers.