The study aims to contribute to the knowledge of how Swedish local governments attempt to govern preschools and schools by way of organising local education administrations. This is accomplished by describing and analysing how local administration organisations for education vary. The focus is on education committees, education administrations, and managerial functions. Organising is studied broadly in 21 local governments and scrutinised in detail in three. The results show extensive variation and differences in organising even in local governments that otherwise appear similar. Furthermore, alterations within the same local government are not rare. The conclusions highlight that local governments organise differently and have different philosophies regarding why. It appears that local government organising is not only the result of structural preconditions. Governance, it is argued, can be performed by modelling the formal organisational structure.