This article presents perspectives on how principals in schools in northern Norway value the school reform "The Knowledge Promotion" and the new National Curriculum (LK06). It is based on a survey of all primary schools in the region of Finnmark and interviews with five of these principals one year later. The region of Finnmark in Norway is in the Arctic zone, with small towns and rural districts. The schools in Finnmark are relatively small, and are both multilingual and multicultural. The new school reform puts a strong emphasis on the quality of the owners of the schools, often the mayor on behalf of the municipality. In spite of this, the principals of the schools, both in the survey and in the interviews, are adamant that they alone make all the decisions in implementing the new curriculum.