Possibly the defining feature of K-12 policy reform over the past several decades has been the growth of state-level decision-making. This, however, comes at a steep cost: Different communities are less able to make different decisions about their schools. This leads to a level of standardization that ill fits American pluralism. States should pause the adoption of new uniform, statewide K-12 policies. Instead, over the next decade, if state governments want to change the direction of their public schools, they should use competitive-grant programs. In many cases of education policy, states can incur virtually no costs while forcing schools and districts to do things. Competitive grants force state governments to put some skin in the game. An era of state-level competitive grants would enable local practitioners and social entrepreneurs to lead the charge--by either innovating within the parameters of a state-level incentive grant program or forgoing such programs entirely and setting off on their own.