Gonski shortfall: NSW Government coughs up to cover Federal gap

THE NSW government will fork out hundreds of millions on public education after the federal government refused to match its $1.2 billion fund for private schools.

• Dan Tehan confident on Catholic education deal
• Rob Stokes says Federal plan pits private vs public

THE NSW government will spend $712 million out of its own pocket on public education as part of a new equity fund after the federal government refused to match its $1.2 billion fund for private schools.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian today announced the NSW government had signed up to the Gonski agreement — ending months of heated negotiations over schools funding — and would spend an extra $6.4 billion on public schools over the next 10 years.

It comes after Education Minister Rob Stokes refused to back down from demands for “needs-based, sector-blind” funding, arguing an extra $4.5 billion over 10 years in federal cash for independent schools was unfair.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Education Minister Rob Stokes see what students are up to at Seven Hills North Public School on Wednesday.

MORE NEWS

Sydney turns ugly after Melbourne Cup arrests

Mark Latham joins One Nation to fight PC madness

Cold-blooded John Macris execution caught on CCTV

Asked whether she was frustrated the federal government would not match funding for public schools, Ms Berejiklian said Mr Stokes had “argued hard for NSW”.

“We put our case to the federal government and when the federal government decided it wanted to leave its fund as it was, we weren’t happy with that and that’s why we’ve put in those extra dollars for public schools,” she said.

The $712 million for public schools, which is included in the $6.4 billion announcement, is part of a new “NSW Equity Fund”.

It’s designed to complement the federal government’s $1.2 billion “Choice” fund for Catholic and independent schools, which comes on top of the $4.5 billion in extra funding.

Ms Berejiklian, Mark Taylor member for Seven Hills and Mr Stokes chat at Seven Hills North Public School.

“We believe Gonski means needs-based funding for all sectors — it should be sector-blind and that’s why our government will be putting in an extra $711 million to support the principles of Gonski,” Ms Berejiklian said.

Mr Stokes said he was determined to ensure that public schools were not treated as “second-class citizens”.

“(It’s) why we have ensured that in terms of the funding provided by the federal government in relation to Catholic and non-government schools, we were able to match that to ensure that no public school student was left behind,” he said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited Galilee Catholic Primary School with Liberal candidate for Wentworth Dave Sharma during the Wentworth by-election campaign.

Ms Berejiklian: “We believe Gonski means needs-based funding for all sectors.”

“We believe that every child is important, that every student needs to be given every education opportunity and that is why we have ensured under this deal that there will be equal or matching funding provided for students across every school in NSW regardless of where they go to school.”

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the decision ensured the state government had “stayed true to the principles of Gonski, of needs-based funding”.

The extra $6.4 billion brings NSW’s total investment to $148 billion for government and non-government schools.

The Morrison government previously threatened to withhold billions of public and private school funding if states refused to sign up to the deal by December 7.