Pyne gets an MP to talk up school switch

Education Minister Christopher Pyne has found his first ambassador for independent public schools: the MP who helped announce the policy 24 hours earlier.

Federal Victorian MP Michael Sukkar will encourage schools in his electorate of Deakin to ask the state education department for more autonomy and control of their own budgets.

The federal government has put $70 million on the desk for 1500 public schools around the country to become more independent.

Under the scheme, a coalition election promise, principals helped by local school boards will have a greater say on who they hire, the subjects they teach and in what they want to specialise.

Mr Pyne wants all federal MPs to be ambassadors for the scheme by visiting schools and talking to parents and teachers about its benefits.

But he's unlikely to convince many Labor MPs, with the opposition saying the independent public school program is about cutting costs not improving student achievements.