This article sheds new light on the so-called "natural tension" between bureaucracy and professionalism in schools. As it is quite common in the educational field to appoint teachers, it is debatable whether the assumed tension really exists. It seems more reasonable to find hierarchical control "within" the professional group. This notion forces to discuss the professional bureaucracy antagonism and to examine the interplay between teachers and managers within schools more concretely. The presented findings are based on a recent empiric study that compared the interplay between teachers and middle managers in publicly and privately funded schools. (Contains 3 tables and 2 notes.)