Although Austrian schools legally belong to the state, the question of who has actual control remains controversial. Issues related to governance are discussed in this paper, which presents a historical overview of the development of educational policymakers' views on governance and the evolution of parents' rights, and an examination of teacher control as a reality. Models for change are discussed--those intrinsic to the system and those requiring changes in the system. A recommendation is made for a denationalized school system based on individual self-regulation to create partnerships among students, teachers, and parents and to dissolve the link among absolutism, educational financing, and nationalization. (LMI)