This article examines the politics behind the initial centralization of primary education in Chihuahua, Mexico during the 1920s and 1930s. The article argues that the centralization of primary education was one of many tools used by the federal government to consolidate its power in the wake of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917) and create a corporatist state. Even before the Revolution, federal officials were concerned that neither states nor municipalities were capable of providing primary education (especially in rural areas) adequate to Mexico's needs. Even though the 1917 Constitution gave control over primary education to the municipal government, Education Ministry (SEP) officials began taking major steps in centralizing primary education under the auspices of the federal government during the administration of Alvaro Obregon (1920-1924) by subsidizing state-run primary schools and refusing to deal with municipal governments. Under Plutarco Elias Calles (1924-1928) the SEP undermined state-run education by annulling all existing contracts with state governments and creating a parallel federal primary schools system. The federal government also tried to gain control over federal teachers by centralizing control over grassroots unions. The SEP's drive to centralize control over schooling reached its climax during this period with the federalization of all primary schools in Chihuahua and Queretaro in 1935.