Gonski package marked down

The real federal-state negotiations now start in earnest

The real federal-state negotiations now start in earnest

PREDICTABLE as it was, the outcome of yesterday's Council of Australian Governments meeting in Canberra went part of the way to supporting Queensland Premier Campbell Newman's view that the body has become a "dysfunctional farce".

In some ways it was ever thus. Generations of premiers have talked tough in the lead-up to such forums, eventually buckling to the inevitable after federal governments from either side of politics added a few sweeteners to their proposals then put the final deal on the table.

This time, however, after almost six years of focusing on education, Julia Gillard was not even able to entice the Labor-led Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT to take the bucket of money on offer as part of her proposed Gonski school funding deal. The real negotiations now start in earnest and will continue until the Prime Minister's arbitrary June 30 deadline.

If anything, agreement is looking less likely, given state concerns about the imposition of a new layer of bureaucracy and regulation tied to the Gonski changes. That is a serious issue. As the Building the Education Revolution and pink batts debacles demonstrated, "central government knows best" paternalism is often the least efficient way to deliver services.

Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett raised a valid point when he said his state -- like others -- was devolving control of state schools to principals. Imposition of a fresh layer of bureaucracy under the Gillard proposal "goes in the opposite direction".

At a time of fiscal stringency, when the commonwealth and all states except WA are in deficit, taxpayers cannot afford overlap and duplication in education, health and other areas of government. If the states' criticisms of Ms Gillard's proposal are valid, the delineation of responsibility for schools would be even more blurred if the package were implemented in its current form.

The concerns expressed by Victorian Premier Denis Napthine and Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles over "robbing Peter to pay Paul" cuts to universities to finance the Gonski proposal were reasonable.

Unless a breakthrough is achieved, school funding and improving education standards -- which are not the same -- will figure prominently in the election campaign. We also await the opposition's alternative proposal.