Vic Education Minister slams Federal Government on failed school funding offer

Rejection of a one-year deal offer on Victoria schools funding has been described as “reckless” by the state’s education minister.

Victorian Education Minister James Merlino. Picture: AAP

Victorian Education Minister James Merlino has accused the federal government of “recklessly rejecting” its conciliatory offer of a one-year interim school funding arrangement, as it remains the only state holding out.

As the Morrison government last night announced it had reached a record funding deal with Queensland, Mr Merlino revealed that he’d put an alternative offer to Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan on Tuesday that was knocked back outright.

“Given the proximity to the next federal election, the unfairness and inequality of the deal ... we asked the federal government to consider the possibility of an interim one-year deal,” Mr Merlino said in a media statement issued on Thursday.

“[Prime Minister] Scott Morrison has already recklessly rejected this proposal. This proves he is willing to hold kids to ransom to force through his unfair education deal.”

However Mr Tehan hit back, accusing Victoria of seeking a “special deal” that “puts in jeopardy everything we have negotiated in good faith with every other State and Territory”.

It is understood that an interim deal, if agreed upon, carries the risk of the other states and territories — some of which were also seeking shorter terms than the five years on offer — executing “no disadvantage clauses” written into their agreements.

Details of the failed negotiations come on the eve of an Education Council meeting on Friday, which is now expected to be a firey affair.

Under the new National School Reform Agreements, which dictate school funding and school improvement plans for 2019 to 2023, the Commonwealth is offering to fund non-government schools up to 80 per cent of their running costs and to increase its contribution to state-funded public schools to 20 per cent. Victoria wants it to lift that to 25 per cent.

Negotiations between the two parties have been at a standstill for months, both accusing each other of refusing to budge.

Mr Tehan last month wrote to Mr Merlino advising him that the state had until last Friday to sign the bilateral arrangement, which would see record funding flow to the state’s schools, threatening to withhold funding fom both the state and non-government schools sectors, which have their own funding from the Commonwealth funnelled through the state, if he did not comply.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews wrote back claiming that the state would not sign unless the Federal Government upped its offer to state schools to 25 per cent. This week he described the current offer sa a “dud deal”.

The impasse could result in Catholic and independent schools in Victoria missing out on more than $1.7 billion of federal funds due to be paid in January, with Mr Tehan insisting that under the Education Act he cannot provided any schools funding in the absence of a current agreement.

Mr Merino plans to write to Catholic Education Commission Victoria and Independent Schools Victoria to point out there is no impediment to them receiving federal funding for their schools.

“The very strong advice I have received from the Education Department is that federal funding can flow for schools without a national agreement in place,” Mr Merlino said

“If Scott Morrison decides to withhold funding, then the responsibility for any impacts on schools rests solely and utterly with him.”

Mr Tehan last night urged Victoria to reconsider its position.

“The Commonwealth wants to provide record funding to Victorian schools but the only way to do so is with the cooperation of Victoria,” he said.

“Rather than continuing to leak to the media my hope is that Daniel Andrews will come to his senses and reach an agreement that provides schools in his state with record funding and guarantees important reforms to lift results.”