In the wake of a damning Productivity Commission report on Australia's education strategy, some parents and teachers in Western Australia are asking whether an initiative designed to give schools more autonomy has led to higher workloads.
The commission's assessment of Australia's national education strategies found national reading and numeracy results had generally declined since 2018 and inequalities in educational achievement had not been addressed.
Responding to the report, WA State School Teachers' Union vice-president Matt Jarman blamed the independent public schools (IPS) initiative, saying it had increased teacher workloads and driven staff out of the profession.
"I was an IPS principal for 10 years, and I acknowledge that it just didn't deliver what it set out to achieve," Mr Jarman told Nadia Mitsopoulos on ABC Radio Perth.
"I think it's time we started to address the Independent Public School workload-related issues and what that may mean."
Giving schools more autonomy
The IPS model was implemented by the Barnett Liberal government in 2009 and allowed schools to apply to become "independent", run by a principal and a board made up of teachers, parents, and community members.
While independent schools still operated under the direction of the department, they had a "one-line budget" and could determine how school budgets were allocated, as well as choose their own staff.
Since 2009, 74 per cent of WA schools have opted to become independent.
Pania Turner, president of the WA Council of State School Organisations (WACSSO), the peak body for parents and citizens groups, said it was unclear whether the initial promise had been realised.
"Back in the day, IPS was kind of really modelled as the 'you-beaut' solution," Ms Turner said.
"We did hear examples of families considering that an IPS was a better option over a closer school that was non IPS — that was a cause for concern for WACSSO.
"We understood the need for greater school autonomy and now [independent] schools have the one-line budget and principals can more readily direct where funds are concentrated.
"But at the end of the day, does the IPS model improve student outcomes?
"I don't disagree that it might be timely to have a look at the IPS system and see if it's bringing all those benefits that it had always been promoted as doing."
Opt-in scheme
The benefits are clear to East Manjimup Primary School principal Michael Smith.
"I think it's terrific, the fact that we have such a choice in the staff that we can select," Mr Smith told ABC Radio Perth.
"It makes the biggest difference in a school, having a choice in getting the teachers and support staff that we would like at our school, who fit in with our school culture.
"And because I get to select the people that we would like to have at this school, I believe it actually reduces the workload in the long term."
WA education Minister Tony Buti also defended the scheme.
"I used to sit on a number of school boards in my electorate before I became a minister," Mr Buti said.
"They all said they preferred the IPS system because it gave them greater autonomy."
Mr Buti said that the high opt-in rate reflected the scheme's popularity.
"You don't have to be an IPS school if you don't want to be, so the local community, the principals, and I would say a lot of teachers are in favour of an IPS system," he said.
"It is acknowledged that there may be some increased workloads for principals [at IPS schools].
"But the [productivity commission] report also stated that it was best to allow the autonomy of a principal in making decisions relevant to the local school."
Schools 'basically businesses'
ABC Radio Perth received numerous messages from listeners critical of the scheme.
Clare: "IPS schools have created extra workloads for all staff, restricts movement and diversity of staff and limiting their opportunities to teach in a range of settings. IPS schools promote competition instead of cooperation."
Carolyn: "This was a Colin Barnett thought bubble to decentralise responsibility. School principals have now become CEOs and schools are run as a business rather than remaining child focused."
John: "The principal at my child's IPS high school has employed most of his family in the school including his wife, daughter and father. Nepotism is rife in the school."
Kevin: "IPS worked when there were enough teachers, there isn't now and so a school like ours in a low socio-economic area loses teachers to the leafy green schools. We were fully staffed a week ago, we've now lost two teachers to other schools considered more salubrious. This is especially so in high schools."
High school maths teacher Jess said the system had increased workload for teachers because "IPS schools are basically businesses".
"I've had to apply for my own job three years in a row because I was always on one-year contracts," she said.
"I had to go through the entire process every time, which consists of multi-page applications.
"I'm sitting in this job, I'm doing good work. I would be rather spending the time that I'm writing these applications helping students after school."
Pania Turner said the biggest priority for parents was a good education, whichever school their kids attended.
"Parents want their children to be in classrooms where teachers are supported, they're well resourced, and they are able to focus on teaching," she said.
"It's really important that there's equity across the system, and that each public school is invested in and resourced to meet the needs of their school community."
