Recent increases have put teacher salaries in Costa Rica roughly on a par with those of comparable Costa Rican professionals (Mizala and Nopo, 2012). The vast majority of decisions concerning education policy are taken at the national level, with the 27 regional offices of the MEP responsible for ensuring these are translated into practice. School principals reported in PISA 2015 one of the lowest levels of school autonomy among participating countries in student assessment, curriculum, staff and financial matters (see Figure 3 .1).