Principals from Nhill, Murtoa and Hopetoun agree Prime Minister Tony Abbott's plan to create 1500 independent public schools by 2017 is inappropriate for rural schools and would create a two-tiered education system.

The changes could give parent-based councils new powers to select principals and acquire property.

Administrative work in small schools would also be increasingly outsourced as part of the $16-million agreement.

The idea is modelled on the American charter school system and was pioneered in Western Australia. Victorian schools would be able to opt in to the program.

They would not be rebranded as independent public schools, but would get access to money if they stuck to targeted activities aimed at making schools self-governing and more accountable for their results.

State Education Minister Martin Dixon said the funding, almost $16 million over four years, would build the capacity of principals, school leaders and communities to take full advantage of the autonomy already afforded to them.

But Hopetoun P-12 College principal Nicholas Lynch said the system would not work for rural schools.

"Part of the idea of a chartered school is to develop a specialised focus and this school in Hopetoun, it needs to cater for every child because of geographical requirements," he said.

"It's not as though we're in an urban environment where parents can choose from three schools."

Mr Lynch said the changes would undermine equal access for government school students.

"Right now a child in Hopetoun can access the same curriculum as they would in Geelong or Melbourne because the schools are essentially governed in the same way," he said.

"But independent public schools would change this. It would create differences that don't need to exist."

Murtoa College acting principal Tony Goodwin said creating independent public schools in Victoria would widen the gap between educational haves and have-nots.

"What you're doing is getting them to compete against each other for students so it's business-like," he said.

"This focus means they'll select the students who come to their schools and they'll try to select higher achieving students who are more likely to come from higher socio-economic backgrounds.

"The kids that don't have the money or ability will end up in fewer schools and therefore the gulf will widen."

Both Mr Lynch and Mr Goodwin called on the previously proposed Gonski reforms to be followed instead.

Nhill College acting principal Joanna Day wants more detail about how independent public schools would work.

"It's a big unknown how it would operate at this stage," she said.

"We're under the umbrella of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, which provides us with legal advice, policies and programs.

"So what exactly does this model mean for individual schools?"