MEDIA RELEASE: Create a new type of public school to boost education - The Centre for Independent Studies
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MEDIA RELEASE: Create a new type of public school to boost education

Adding charter schools — publicly-funded, privately-managed schools — to Australia’s public education landscape could improve outcomes for many students, according to a new research report by the Centre for Independent Studies.
Authored by CIS policy analyst Trisha Jha and research fellow Dr Jennifer Buckingham, Free to Choose Charter Schools: How charter and for-profit schools could boost public education, reviews the evidence on the impacts on student achievement of charter school and similar school policies and finds there is much the charter model could offer Australia.
“It’s clear from looking at Australia’s results in national and international testing that we haven’t been seeing the kinds of improvements in student achievement that we would want to see for such a significant investment over several decades,” Dr Buckingham says. “We need a new approach.”
That new approach is charter schools, which are a type of public school: they cannot charge fees or select their students and are funded like an ordinary public school.
“Unlike traditional public schools, charter schools are not managed by government and they have control over curriculum and staffing decisions, as well as school budgets,” Ms Jha says.
The researchers outline that charter schools would be part of the public education landscape – state and territory governments would be responsible for them.
“Non-profit and for-profit organisations would be expected to submit a detailed application before entering into a legislative contract, or ‘charter’, with the government,” Dr Buckingham says. “Charter agreements would oblige school management organisations to meet certain benchmarks while giving them flexibility in how they meet those benchmarks.”
Governments would play a key role in assessing applications and act as the guardians of public and parental interests.
“Schools would be expected to participate in NAPLAN and MySchool to ensure parents can make an informed choice,” Ms Jha says.
“We urge governments across the country to consider the evidence and introduce this reform, which has the potential to improve the education outcomes of so many children.”

Trisha Jha is a policy analyst with expertise in childcare and education policy.
 
Dr Jennifer Buckingham has a doctorate in literacy and social disadvantage and is a widely-published expert on schools policy and education research.
 

 
Media Enquiries: Karla Pincott  kpincott@cis.org.au  0411 759 934