The federal government plan to turn public schools into independent schools is the latest in a series of government ''reforms'' in the English-speaking world aimed at making schools conform better to a business model. Beginning in the 1980s, ''local management of schools'' was introduced in Britain and ''school-based management'' was introduced in many states in the US.

These ''autonomous schools'' did not, as Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne claimed this week, produce better student outcomes.

A message to Christopher Pyne: "Learning is not work and teaching is not production." Credit:Andrew Meares

Often labelled ''devolution'', financial budgeting, day-to-day school administration and responsibility for outcomes were devolved to local schools and their boards or trusts.

Principals manage school funds, personnel and educational processes. But centralised bureaucracies retain firm control of what should be taught. They establish the goals of education, methods of performance evaluation, core curriculums, and resource allocation.