In Swedish educational policy the concept of equivalence has come to substitute the concepts of equity and equality. Equivalent education was introduced in the late seventies to meet the demands from two societal streams: decentralisation and individualisation. The system of school governing was reformed with these demands as a background, resulting in increasing differences between municipalities and schools. The concept of equivalence could more easily harbor these differences than equality and equity. The responsibility for equivalent education is shared between the municipalities who are to realize the education, and the state who sets the goals and evaluates. Through this, the political space for the municipalities to influence and even form their own educational policy has become considerably larger. The national goals are often vague and can be interpreted in a number of ways, the goal of equivalence being no exception. The paper will examine how two municipalities with different local political majority describe themselves as a part of the governing system and particularly their responsibility for equivalent education. The paper will focus how different interpretations of equivalence has had consequences for the school practice in these municipalities.