Maralyn Parker - 校长和家长的自主权

patrickzhu

联邦大选在即，工党总理Julia Gillard在公立教育方面又有了新的举措，这就是过去提及的“给公立学校校长更大的权力”。

我们来看看Maralyn Parker的文章 Power to Parents and Principals

http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/maralynparker/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/power_to_parents_and_principals/

根据Julia Gillard新的计划，在教育当局直接控制下的澳洲公立学校将会给予新的权力，让他们可以自主决定聘用教师和使用商务经理来解放目前公立学校的校长所受的束缚。

这是Gillard总理计划实施的另一项许诺 - 在学校事务上，给校长们更大的权力，给予家长们更多的发言权。

这项计划将会给澳洲各州和各领地政府公立学校以巨大的冲击。这将会使削弱澳洲各州/领地政府对公立学校的直接控制的步伐更迈进了一步。

特别是在新南威尔士州，这项计划打破了原先由教师工会主导的公立学校员工内部流动的制度。

私立学校和天主教会学校已经有了Gillard总理将要给所有的公立学校的“权力”。然而这项名为“Empowering Local School”的计划将给予1000所学校包括非公立学校一项用于启动和过渡的特别拨款，大概每个学校4万到5万刀。

新南威尔士州第一批实施的学校将会有320所。这意味着至少有200所公立学校将会参与此计划。

下面引用政府的新闻稿：

第一批有1000所学校将会参与Empowering Local Schools计划，每个学校都有自己度身定造的计划。

新的学校管理安排例如学校委员会和理事会，将负责策略规划、监督学校的运作和财务状况，从而增强家长和社区的归属感。

财务和预算的负责。一开始是一单个人员聘用的预算，所以校长能够决定其学校的合适人员配置。第二步将涉及到学校的整个预算，让学校能够自主管理员工的整体状况和资源的分配，从而让其迎合各个学校提升学生表现的特定需要。

在现有的体系安排里，管理学校员工的整体情况（包括编外人员）、人员的招聘和挑选、员工休假和增强人员业绩管理。

学校将设立自己的委员会或者理事会来直接进行学校事务的管理。

在接下来的4年里，会有4370万刀的特别拨款给学校作为此计划的启动资金。而且将还会有额外的1770万刀的款项来支持过渡期的工作。另外还有600万刀将用于支持诸如对校长培训的发展计划的改革工作。

现在，在NSW, NSW, WA, QLD和ACT各州/领地政府的组织下，已经有了很多自我管理的公立学校。而在Victoria州，公立学校采取自我管理的方式已经有十年之久了。

在Western Australia，今年有34所公立学校成为了自我管理的独立公立学校（IPS）。而西澳的教育部说现在还有几百所公立学校申请2011年成为独立公立学校（IPS）。

在NSW，目前我们有47所学校其校长和家长在员工编制预算上有更大的自主权。然而他们还没有被给予如Gillard总理的计划所包括的自我管理权力。校长们还不能自主地管理他们的整体员工编制预算和直接聘用任课老师。

公立学校校长组织和公立学校家长委员会组织都欢迎对扩大校长权力的举措。

然而可以预期教师工会对此没有兴趣，特别是NSW教师工会。在过去二十年里工会一直在反对给予公校校长有直接聘用任课教师的权力。

我可以看到这是一项等待了很久的改革，的确和Gillard总理要给予学校更多的权力的理念相符，让学校更直接对学生的表现负责，最终可以让家长有真正和持续的对于学校事务的发言权。

patrickzhu

Maralyn Parker
Monday, August 02, 2010 at 02:49pm  

Australian schools under the direct control of school authorities will be given new powers to employ teachers and use business managers to free up principals under a new Gillard plan.  

This is another promise Gillard is planning to deliver on - to give more power to principal and more say to parents on how their schools are run.

The program will have the greatest impact on state and territory government schools. And it is one step closer to cutting out the the direct control of state and territory governments over public schools.

Most particularly in NSW it will break the jealously guarded power the teacher union has over public school staffing using an internal teacher transfer system.

Independent schools already have the powers Gillard wants to give to all schools, as do many Catholic systemic schools. However the program Empowering Local Schools will offer 1000 schools, including non-government schools, start up transition funding of $40,000 to $50,000.

The NSW quota will be 320 schools in the first rollout. This will mean at least 200 public schools will be participating.

This is what the press release said:-

The first 1,000 schools will deliver these core elements of Empowering Local Schools, tailored to the needs of each school:

New school governance arrangements, such as school councils or boards, will have responsibility for strategic planning, and overseeing the school’s operations and finances to enhance parental and community ownership.
Responsibility for finance and budget. Initially a single budget for staffing, so principals can determine the appropriate staffing mix for the school. The second stage will involve a one-line school budget that allows the school to manage the staffing profile and allocation of resources to meet the unique needs of the school to lift student performance.
Managing the school staffing profile (including support staff), recruitment and selection of staff, staff leave and strengthened staff performance management within existing enterprise bargaining arrangements

.
Schools will set up school councils or boards to have direct input into school governance.

Over the next four years $43.7 million will be spent on start up funding directly to schools. Systems will get another $17.7 million to support the transition. And there will be another $6.million spent in supporting the changeover for things like the development of training courses for principals.

There have already been pilots of self managing public schools in NSW, NSW, WA, QLD and ACT all organised by the state and territory governments. Public schools in Victoria have been self managing for about a decade.

In Western Australia 34 public school became self managing Independent Public Schools in 2010. When the WA education department asked schools to apply for IPS status for 2011 hundreds of schools applied.

In NSW we have had a pilot of 47 schools where principals and parents have taken more control over staffing budgets. However they have not been given as many self managing powers as Gillard’s model. Principals cannot manage their staffing budget entirely and directly hire all classroom teachers.

Already public school principal organisations are welcoming these new powers for principals as are the public school parent organisations.

However expect no enthusiasm from the teacher unions, especially the NSW Teachers Federation. It has been fighting moves to give public school principals local power over hiring teachers for at least 20 years.

As I see it this is a refrom that has been long coming. It certainly fits with the Gillard idea of giving those who are directly accountable for student achievement more power over the various elements that might affect that achievement. And finally parents will get a real and sustained say in what is going on in their schools.

bulaohu

好事啊，但要注意校长的权力不能太大，成为一个独立王国。希望家长能在Panel里有足够的代表来制约校长。

缓缓

从哪里可以查到这47家学校的名字？

patrickzhu

.....Parents tasked with hire learning

Simon Benson Chief Political Reporter From: The Daily Telegraph August 02, 2010 12:00AM

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au ... zm695-1225899742999

PARENTS and principals will be given a greater say over school budgets and the selection of teachers under a Labor election promise to further strip state government bureaucracies of control.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard will today announce that 1000 schools would be included in a $484 million national rollout to give greater independence to communities in running their local schools.

Under the scheme, to begin in 2012, principals and parents of participating schools would have a greater control over school budgets, selecting and employing teachers and staff and directing the funding priorities of their schools.

It will be designed to give parents a greater say in how schools are run. Local school councils or boards would be created to have direct responsibility for planning and overseeing the school's operations and finances.

They would also have responsibility for budgeting for staffing and for managing staff selection, as well as staff leave and staff performance.

The start-up costs would be between $40,000 and $50,000 for the transition to more independent schooling.

Roll-out would continue after the successful transition of the first 1000 schools.

Ms Gillard said the Empowering Local Schools program was the next plank of the reforms she began as education minister which delivered a national curriculum, performance-based teaching and national testing standards for numeracy and literacy.

"I believe in every child getting a great education," Ms Gillard told The Daily Telegraph.

"I have delivered things that have been put in the too hard basket for too long.

"I believe the next step in these reforms is to empower school principals.

"It is a decisive shift away from state government bureaucracy and empowering principals to be leaders."

The policy is expected to again pitch Ms Gillard into battle with teachers unions, with whom she battled and defeated over the national performance rankings for schools, otherwise known as school leagues tables.

"I will leave their response to them. I have not shirked a fight yet," Ms Gillard said.

The policy is the first major election announcement on education since the election campaign began.

Initially the program, which is funded to run until 2018, would be confined to government schools but discussions would also include non-government schools about how they could be involved