School principals often contend that having the ability to be the instructional leaders that they were trained to be hinges in part upon maximizing their decision making latitude. These leaders assert that policy flexibility allows schools to make necessary changes without the bureaucracy that they believe stifles reform, improvement strategies, and performance growth. These leaders often advocate for the necessary flexibility that would afford them the opportunity to lead without restrictions. There are concerns over the flexibility that charters are allowed and that traditional public schools continue to be denied. The study examined the policy latitude that charter schools receive from the perspective of North Carolina state lawmakers and charter school leaders. The perspectives of these policymakers and principals concerning the potential extension of charter-like flexibility to traditional public schools were explored. Their opinions about the impact of policy flexibility in charter schools were solicited as well. The study determined how traditional school principals, whose low-performing schools had been given policy flexibility, planned to implement this latitude. The study revealed that a diverse sample of legislators, each of whom served on their respective education policy committees and who represented both sides of the political aisle, uniformly agreed that policy flexibility should be offered to traditional schools. Similarly, a group of current charter school leaders who previously served as principals in traditional school settings concurred that the flexibility available to their current schools should be granted to traditional schools. The study also revealed that the principals appreciated having the flexibility to make the necessary decisions to lead their schools. The study revealed that the legislators and charter school principals, while largely positive about the impact of flexibility in charter schools, had occasional concerns about the implementation of this discretion in charter schools. The study included an analysis of survey responses from archival data collected by The Innovation Project through a survey of 31 traditional school principals who were in the restart collaborative. These traditional school leaders had just been granted charter-like flexibility. The analysis of survey responses revealed that these traditional school principals had specific, though somewhat constrained, plans for implementing this newfound flexibility and engaging in innovative practices. The study concluded with a set of policy recommendations. Key among these recommendations is that the study findings suggest that policymakers should provide traditional public schools with the policy flexibility that is given to charter schools. Additional research is needed to address the study's limitations. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]