There has been a spike in research activity on how public management has affected organizational performance in the area of public administration over the past few years. In this regard, managers’ leadership, employee motivation, organizational goals, cultures, structures, and managerial networking, to name a few, have been emphasized. The research shows that public management improves employees’ perceptual performance (Brewer & Selden, 2000), students’ academic performance (Meier & O’Toole, 2003), police performance (Nicholson-Crotty & O’Toole, 2004), and state government performance (Jacobson, Palus, & Bowling, 2010). To resolve complex public problems, the so-called wicked problems, and to supplement the limited resources available for organizational goals and survival, a body of studies has examined the significance of public management as part of an organization’s strategy (e.g., Agranoff & McGuire, 2004; Galaskiewicz, 1985; Jarillo, 1988; O’Toole, 1997; Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978; Ryu, 2015). Despite progress in this research, as of yet, relatively little attention has been paid to the relationship between public management (specifically, public managers’ strategic collaboration behaviors) and performance in the context of local budgeting. Understanding the link between the two deserves scholarly attention because budgeting is one of the most important concerns for public managers. For instance, Gulick (1937) emphasized budgeting as one of an executive’s core functions. Schick (1966) argued that budgeting allows managers to control administrative abuse, enhance efficiency in administration, and strategically plan for the organization. In the school districts from which this study draws its data, budgeting is one of the most important management tools used to further the district’s educational goals and accomplishments (Hartman, 1999). Well-managed budgeting is a critical antecedent to organizational productivity (O’Toole & Stipak, 2002), administrative efficiency and economy (Willoughby, 1918), and responsibility (Cleveland, 1915). Over the past few decades, due to recurring yet unexpected financial distress, a number of public programs have experienced budget shortfalls. As part of local governments, school districts have not been spared from the effect of such financial challenges. Due to the volatility in both external and internal funding (e.g., local revenue sources and subsidies from upper-level governments), it is likely that school districts will need to find a way to balance their budgets without compromising the needs of their students (Kim & Eom, 2016). In this vein, we were motivated by the need to ponder how to manage local budgets effectively in the public sector, which has long become central in the scholarship, through the lens of strategic management in the specific context of school districts.