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Hello,I'm Greg Prior.
Over recent decades, there has been a global shift towards providing schools with greater local authority
to manage their staff and budgets. Sometimes you'll see these policies referred to as
increasing principal ‘autonomy’ or making schools ‘autonomous’.
As educators we understand that the words we use mean different things to different people.
I am aware that in discussing Local Schools, Local Decisions a number of staff have used the word autonomy
and this suggests that we want our schools to be independent, or self-governing.
We don’t – that's because as a system of public schools we enjoy enormous advantages.
But as a former principal and regional director I also know that decisions are best made
closer to where they impact on teaching and learning.
The feedback we received through the consultation process last year made it very clear –
you want more authority to make school based decisions – but you want your authority
supported by a strong, state-wide education system.
Local Schools, Local Decisions balances these two important ideas.
As a system we support our schools with specialist expertise in areas such as curriculum and professional development.
The Connected Classroom Program demonstrated the capacity of our system to drive innovation.
This support is not going to change.
What will change is how the authority is distributed across our system.
At the moment, decisions in our schools are made across three broad contexts:
schools, regions and the state office.
Our system is highly centralised compared with other high performing education systems around the world.
This limits the flexibility and authority of schools to make local decisions that best suit their students’ needs.
In my conversations with school leaders we've discussed many situations where a school
would like to employ a temporary teacher to address a specific need for a short period of time.
Right now it's very difficult for a school to try something different to address a unique local need.
In my visits, schools have expressed their frustration and we have listened to these comments.
Our school leaders will need the authority to exercise that leadership and help to further engage with their communities –
the involvement of parents and local communities is essential to the success of our schools.
This doesn't mean schools will be formally accountable to local parent boards and councils, as is the case in some jurisdictions.
Local Schools, Local Decisions is about educational reform through increased authority - not autonomy.
We all need to use the same terminology to prevent any misunderstanding.
The hard work ahead of us will ensure, that once Local Schools, Local Decisions is fully implemented
we have a model of local decision-making that builds on the advantages we enjoy as a system of public schools.
I acknowledge and appreciate the combined effort already underway
and look forward to keeping you updated on the reforms as we move forward.