Parents and teachers target Education Minister Jason Clare over school funding ultimatum

Parents, principals and teachers have accused Education Minister Jason Clare of NSW schoolkids “to ransom”, with a funding deal his state government counterpart describes as a “dangerous overreach”.

Parents, principals and teachers have condemned Education Minister Jason Clare for holding NSW schoolkids “to ransom”, in a scathing letter addressed to the Western Sydney MP and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

The letter, seen by The Daily Telegraph, is co-signed by the NSW primary and secondary principals’ associations, P&C Federation, NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group and the Teachers Federation, and describes Clare’s ultimatum – the offer of a 2.5 per cent increase to the Commonwealth’s share of public school funding, a $4.1 billion deal – as “unconscionable”.

“A ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ offer to the NSW government is unconscionable given the entrenched pain our schools are feeling after decades of failure at all levels of government to properly resource public education,” the letter reads.

“Holding our kids’ future ransom is completely unacceptable.”

The chorus of parents and educators also expressed “grave concern” over the “corrosive impact” of “chronic underfunding”, including merged and cancelled classes, cuts to specialist programs, overcrowding and excessive reliance on demountable classrooms, and ageing infrastructure.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Swift

The new ten-year National School Reform Agreement, a bilateral agreement between the federal, state and territory governments on education funding priorities, falls short of the 25 per cent share of funding that the NSW government has been agitating for and would leave schools at 97.5 per cent of the school resourcing standard.

Education Minister Prue Car has outright refused to sign the deal, rebranded to the ‘Better and Fairer Schools Agreement’ under Clare, which would also require states to find money for “a raft of expensive reforms” including a new early-years numeracy screening check.

Prue Car, Minister for Education and Early Learning, has called on her federal counterparts to “clarify their position”. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

“The question for the Commonwealth becomes, how will they continue to fund NSW schools?” Ms Car said.

“Don’t use our young learners as political footballs.

“To threaten all school funding is a dangerous overreach, and we look forward to them clarifying their position.”

NSW Teachers’ Federation president Henry Rajendra is one of the signatories to the letter.

Teachers will on Thursday take the funding fight to the streets of Western Sydney as their union prepare to rally outside Clare’s electorate office in Bankstown.

NSW Teachers Federation President Henry Rajendra said the Commonwealth is the only level of government with the “financial firepower” to lift public school funding to 100 per cent.

“This is more than a moral duty; it’s an economic imperative,” he said.

“The students of today will become tomorrow’s critical workforce and community leaders. It’s time for the Prime Minister to step up.”