This paper presents a discussion of legislative frameworks that mandate schools to define their own educational processes and systems. The political and constitutional implications are discussed for Australia compared with the existing structures in the United Kingdom and the United States. As decentralisation varies considerably in Australia between states and territories, the State of Western Australia is selected as an example. Specifically an analysis of the approach adopted by Western Australia is evaluated for the need for effecting equality of regular and special education. It is argued that new education laws are essential to promote equity in restructured systems.
AshendenD. (1994). Australian schooling: Two futures. Melbourne: National Industry Education Foundation
2.
BirchI. (1993a). Law and educational planning. Paris: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
3.
BirchI. (1993b). Public and private educational institutions: Australia. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Law and Education: Educational Decision Making in Open Societies. Berlin: Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education
4.
BrouilletteR. (1993). The future of special education: Who will pay the bill? In MittlerP.BrouilletteR.HarrisD. (Eds.), Special needs education. London: Kogan Page
5.
BuchananA. E.BrockD. W. (1990). Deciding for others: The ethics of surrogate decision making. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
6.
CaseyK. (1994). Teaching children with special needs. Wentworth Falls, NSW: Social Science Press
7.
CavanaghD. M.FieldingA. J.RodwellG. W.SymesC. (1991). Devolving decision-making: Contextual foundations in Australian education. Darwin: Northern Territory University
8.
ColeP. (1988). Why is integration so difficult to achieve in some school systems? A review of some of the recent literature. In AshmanA. F. (Ed.), The exceptional child (Monograph No. 1, pp. 19–28). Brisbane: University of Queensland Press
9.
Committee of Inquiry into Education in Western Australia (K. Beazley, Chair). (1984). Education in Western Australia. Perth: Ministry of Education, Western Australia
10.
DeutschM. (1985). Distributive justice: A social psychological perspective. New Haven: Yale University Press
11.
DimmockC.HattieJ. (1994). Principals' and teachers' reactions to school restructuring. Australian Journal of Education, 38 (1), 36–55
ElkinsJ. (1992). Differentiation without discrimination: Principles and practices for the education of students with disabilities and other special educational needs. In Proceedings of the 16th National Conference of the Australian Association of Special Education. Perth: AASE
14.
FidlerB. (1989). Background to the Education Reform Act. In FidlerB.BowlesG. (Eds.), Effective local management of schools (pp. 8–18). Harlow, Essex: Longman
15.
ForlinC. (1994). [Educators' concerns and beliefs about inclusive practices: Appraisal of stress and coping]. Unpublished raw data
16.
FullanM. (1993). Change forces: Probing the depths of educational reform. London: Falmer Press
17.
GallowayD. (1989). The special education needs of teachers. In BartonL. (Ed.), Integration: Myth or reality? (pp. 83–93). London: Falmer Press
18.
GannonP. M. (1988). The integration of students with disabilities in Australian regular schools: We have a long, long, way to go. In AshmanA. F. (Ed.), The exceptional child (Monograph No. 1, pp. 41–46). Brisbane: University of Queensland Press
19.
HoyleJ. R. (1994). Can a principal run the show and be a democratic leader? In Democracy in education (NASSP Bulletin, pp. 33–39). Reston, VH: National Association of Secondary School Principals
20.
LevinB. (1993). Legal framework for education decision-making in the United States. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Law and Education: Educational Decision Making in Open Societies. Berlin: Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education
21.
Ministry of Education. (1987). Better schools in Western Australia: A programme for improvement. Perth: Govt Pr
22.
MorrisR. (1993). England and Wales: Systems in transition. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Law and Education: Educational Decision Making in Open Societies. Berlin: Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education
23.
PaglianoP. (1988). Integrating integration. In AshmanA. F. (Ed.), The exceptional child (Monograph No. 1, pp. 47–52). Brisbane: University of Queensland Press
24.
PinetG. (1990). Is the law fair to the disabled? A European survey (Regional Publications, European Series, No. 29). Copenhagen: WHO
25.
Quality of Education Review Committee (P. H. Karmel, Chair). (1985). Quality of education in Australia. Canberra: AGPS
26.
RamsayE. (1993). Concluding comments. In Proceedings of the International Working Conference on Social Justice, Equity and Dilemmas of Disability in Education (pp. 99–100). Brisbane: Department of Education, Queensland
27.
RansonS. (1993). Markets or democracy for education. British Journal of Educational Studies, 41 (4), 333–352
28.
RawlsJ. (1971). A theory of justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
29.
RichterI. (1993). Legal and procedural requirements for open decision-making in education: Western Europe. In Proceedings of the International Symposium on Law and Education: Educational Decision Making in Open Societies. Berlin: Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education
30.
RizviF.LingardB. (1993). Discourse of social justice and the dilemmas of policy in special education. In Proceedings of the International Working Conference on Social Justice, Equity and Dilemmas of Disability in Education (pp. 5–14). Brisbane: Department of Education, Queensland
31.
SimkinsT. (1994). Efficiency, effectiveness and the local management of schools. Journal of Education Policy, 9 (1), 15–33
32.
State Government Taskforce (R. Shean, Chair). (1993). The education of students with disabilities and specific learning difficulties. Perth: Ministry of Education, Western Australia
33.
StillmanA. (1990) Legislation for choice. In FludeM.HammerM. (Eds.), The Education Reform Act, 1988: Its origins and implications (pp. 87–106). London: Falmer Press
34.
TomlinsonD. (1994, October 22). Give schools more power. West Australian, p. 13
35.
WiltonK. (1993). Acknowledging quality in New Zealand special education. Australasian Journal of Special Education, 17 (1), 14–19
