In a small suburban district in the Midwest, the superintendent was outlining his plans for aligning the curriculum to the Common Core State Standards. The process had begun, he explained, so he and his staff were set to spend the next three years on math, then three years on English language arts and so on. The author struggled with the concept of consuming that much time to do the alignment work, suggesting a first draft in all K-12 subject areas could be in place following three days of staff development. The Common Core State Standards are complex and enormous and will take longer than three days to develop comprehensive plans. They will have a huge impact on teaching and learning in public education. This superintendent, like many others working in the public schools, seemed convinced an elaborate, drawn-out process is requisite before moving forward on this initiative's implementation. Based on his work inside districts, the author promotes local staff designs, contributing to buy-in and regular feedback. The author suggests involving the full staff or a representative group in following the proven research and practices of Larry Ainsworth, Larry Lezotte, Doug Reeves, Mike Schmoker and others to align the school district's curriculum, instruction and assessments to the Common Core.