Schools will improve when principals are given the autonomy to make decisions that best solve their school-based problems. Coupled with this autonomy is the accountability to produce significant improvement. The upper level bureaucracy which made decisions for schools in the past often produced poor results. Principals with this autonomy have greater buy-in and ownership of their schools. A prime illustration of this need for autonomy will be the complex implementation of the Common Core Standards. This is an example of change which may best be done with central office support, not direction.