Winning idea subject to a scare

WHO'S running the scare campaign anyway?

About two hours after the release of the Gonski review's recommendations for school funding on Monday, the Coalition began its scare campaign that the proposed funding model would lead to a hit list of private schools destined to lose money, and then rising fees. It followed the next day with a means test on parents' income to determine the level of government funding.

The government is countering with a scare campaign of its own, with Julia Gillard and her ministers talking about students slipping behind their Asian peers.

In releasing the report, the Prime Minister first pointed out that "four of the five top schooling systems in the world are in our region" and in the past decade Australian students have slipped from equal-second in reading internationally to equal-seventh; and from equal-fifth in maths to equal-13th. Then she started talking about the report.

The opposition is playing loose with the facts. The report does not mention hit lists, or cutting private school funding (in fact, it increases). So no need for fee rises.

Gillard emphasises the importance of education to her vision for the nation. But it's not so important that the government should endorse the model and support the need for extra funding.

Gillard's refusal to back the report, citing the need to deliver a budget surplus next year - when new funding arrangements will not start until 2014 - sends the message the surplus is more important than educating disadvantaged children.

As David Gonski said on Monday, the proposed system is "transparent, equitable and financially sustainable". Sounds like a winning argument.