Schools around the world have experienced unprecedented change during the contemporary era of globalization. The student population is becoming more diverse and, consequently, teachers have been tasked with meeting a wider range of needs from multiple backgrounds. While multicultural education has been proposed by scholars as a means for meeting the needs of all learners few studies have provided an in-depth examination of teachers’ understanding of multicultural education and the factors that influence their perceptions. A multiple case study was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of how teachers serving our youngest students perceive multicultural education. Educators at four different elementary school settings in the Southeastern United States were interviewed to explore their thoughts of multicultural education and its three tenets: educational equity, cultural tolerance, and social transformation. School-level factors and teacher-level factors that influence elementary teachers’ perceptions were also analyzed, thus adding more context for our understanding. The participants perceive multicultural education as (1) a means for teaching global awareness and culture, (2) lessons aimed at building cultural tolerance, (3) learning about students’ backgrounds, and (4) using multicultural curriculum or materials. Their comments regarding the three tenets of multicultural education, however, reveal perceptions that are likely more nuanced than these categories suggest. Teacher-level factors, such as family, upbringing, and travel were found to have a greater influence on their perceptions of multicultural education than school-level factors. Yet, a case-by-case analysis revealed that administrators’ beliefs and schoolwide multicultural initiatives also have a significant and unrecognized influence over teachers’ perceptions and practices.