Decentralisation and Education

Has somebody in Fine Gael HQ being reading The Wisdom of Crowds or more particularly chapter four on decentralisation and specialisation and also FA Hayek's The Use of Knowledge in Society? Here is an extract from this speech education spokesman, Brian Hayes gave to their recent national conference:

But above all, we need to change the desperate centralization that exists in Irish Education. Our central command system, operated from Marlborough Street, prevents schools from deciding what's important to them. Why shouldn't a school decide to make excellence in science and maths or excellence in the Arts; a central part of its work, by having the freedom to hire expert graduates at whatever level of salary is required? We must give schools the autonomy to decide for themselves and reduce the over reliance on the centre.

FA Hayek would be delighted with this approach to using tacit or local knowledge. This piece from The Wall Street Journal takes a completely view and argues that there should be greater centralisation in the US education system.