Tangled web of funding ties Coalition to deals

LABOR has tried to build an Abbott-proof fence to protect its new school-funding model.

The increased $7.6 billion for schools over the next six years comes from a tangled variety of sources, intended to make it difficult for a Coalition government to undo any funding agreements with the states.

Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne has said any new funding model must be one in, all in. Unless every state and territory signs up, Pyne argues it is not valid.

So far, only NSW has reached agreement, but the Labor states are expected to sign before the June 30 deadline, with the federal government still hoping Victoria and Queensland will make a deal. Western Australia and the Northern Territory have adopted a harder line.

The budget attempts to tie an Abbott government to Labor's funding model.

Any agreements signed between now and the election rely on billions of dollars in savings from social welfare, tax and education.

To drive the point home even harder, Labor has forecast savings, and spending, over the next decade.

The model also diverts money from the national partnerships on literacy and numeracy and disadvantaged schools, as well as reward payments for teachers and schools, locking in the extra money over the long term.

The Coalition has already decided to cut the national partnerships to fund some of its own spending commitments, made more difficult if they are no longer separate streams.

To return school funding to the status quo, the Coalition's position, it will have to cut money to schools or find alternative cuts worth billions. To save the Baby Bonus, a Howard government initiative, Tony Abbott will have to cut money to schools or find billions somewhere else.