Put a price on Gonski at COAG

The Prime Minister must reveal at the Council of Australian Governments meeting how much her proposed changes to school funding are going to cost the States, Christopher Pyne, Shadow Minister for Education said today.

“If there is no money, then there is no model. Without the additional funding, Labor’s proposed changes will negatively impact on non-government schools, forcing up the cost of living as parents pay higher school fees,” Mr Pyne said.

 “The Prime Minister and Schools Minister, Peter Garrett have been criss-crossing the country talking about changing the current school funding system, but have been deliberately avoiding talking about the price tag,” he said.

“While Mr Garrett was recently at pains to point out that the Gonski changes are not currently Government policy, he has also insisted the Government will be bringing legislation into the Parliament before the end of the year.

“Mr Gonski estimated his proposal would cost the state and federal government $5 billion each year based on 2009 figures. The Victorian Independent school sector estimate it will cost an additional $113 billion over the life of the agreement with indexation maintained at current levels,” Mr Pyne said.

April 12, 2012