Although the premise of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is to improve schools by holding them accountable for student achievement the way a company is held accountable for the bottom line, as a strategy for school improvement it overlooks one simple truth: The business of public schools is not simply promoting student achievement. The fundamental challenge facing public school leaders is to manage the politics of implementing those instructional strategies that enable all students to achieve their personal best. The critical determinants for school improvement are the extent to which a school board and the superintendent are able to manage the district's political culture to embrace the values of student achievement and school improvement and then to provide the resources necessary to support those commitments. If school leaders attempt to implement corporate planning strategies borrowed from the private sector that do not resonate with the values and beliefs of the local political culture, the school community will resist and the students will suffer.