Labor plans school funding blitz

Victorian Labor is planning a pre-election attack on the Coalition as Education Minister James Merlino pulls out of a key forum.

Victorian Education Minister James Merlino. Picture: Sarah Matray

The Victorian Labor government is planning to attack the federal government’s commitment to fair school funding, with a pre-election advertising blitz to highlight discrepancies between the resourcing of state and private schools.

Victorian Education Minister James Merlino, who has been at loggerheads with his federal counterpart Dan Tehan over the issue, has pulled out of a key education forum today in a sign of his dissatisfaction over funding negotiations.

The forum was to discuss Mr Tehan’s proposal to update the 2008 Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians to the next Education Council meeting in December.

“You need to fund education properly and fairly before you earn the right to hold this important forum,” Mr Merlino said this morning.

“I am not prepared to sit in a room and talk about a vision document for national education with someone who has intentionally set up this disgraceful funding model.

“It is fundamentally unfair and we will not accept it. We will sign a national agreement but not this one.”

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan. Picture: AAP

Mr Merlino’s comments come after Victoria refused to sign up to a five-year funding agreement, describing at as a “dud deal” that was unfair to state schools. The state instead pushed for a short-term interim deal.

“We are less than 100 days away from a federal election and the difference between the major parties couldn’t be starker,” Mr Merlino said

“If Victorians vote for a Shorten Labor government their schools will receive $800 million in extra funding. That’s the equivalent of 2000 additional teachers.”

The Australian Education Union this morning supported Mr Merlino’s stance describing the bid to review the Melbourne Declaration is “a farce” that had failed to win the full support of all state and territory members of the Education Council.

The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians was ratified in 2008 following wide consultation across the education sector. It was the was designed as a “road map” for schooling policy across the nation, with its chief goal being to ensure the system promoted ­“equity and excellence”.

However, instead of students’ results improving, Australia has fallen behind in international rankings for literacy, science and mathematics, sparking calls for a rethink. Mr Tehan announced a review late last year.

AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe said despite an invite to attend today’s forum, the AEU was also boycotting in support of Mr Merlino’s decision not to attend.

“The Australian Education Union will not participate in any review of the Melbourne Declaration which does not have the support of every state and territory Minister and while the critical issue of funding our schools fairly is outstanding,” she said.

“We support Mr Merlino’s decision not to take part in the national forum, and we will also be boycotting this shambolic review process,” Ms Haythorpe said.

Labor’s upcoming advertising campaign, which is expected to feature on radio and television, will aim to highlight that differences in federal funding to state and private schools.

It comes after the Commonwealth Education Department spent more than $9 million promoting the federal government’s Quality School’s funding package, with a campaign to run until April, which has been heavily criticised by Labor given its proximity to the election.