The Minns Labor Government is putting student outcomes across NSW at risk by failing to land a school funding deal with the Commonwealth.
Education Minister Prue Car formally rejected an offer by the Albanese Government to increase its share of school funding to 22.5 per cent, which would have injected an additional $4.1 billion into schools.
In the lead up to the 2023 election, Premier Chris Minns said he was hoping for a 25 per cent contribution as part of the agreement, but promised to fund the shortfall if the Commonwealth didn’t agree.
Shadow Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said the Premier must be honest with teachers, school staff, students, and parents about whether he intends to honour his election commitment.
“Both the Premier and the Education Minister campaigned on the commitment their government would stump up the extra cash if they weren’t successful with their Labor mates in Canberra,” Ms Mitchell said.
“Yet here we are 18 months later, they have thrown the deal off the table and said no to an extra $400 million for schools each year, but at the same time they haven’t made good on their promise that schools will be fully funded under Labor.
“If they don’t follow through and provide the extra money, it shows they weren’t telling the truth and it will be yet another example of Labor saying one thing to get elected, and then failing to deliver.”
The stoush comes as new data revealed there are 200 fewer full-time permanent and temporary teachers in NSW public schools than two years ago.
“The Minns Labor Government claims it is fixing the teacher shortage, but the figures speak for themselves,” Ms Mitchell said.
“This data is concerning but not surprising, given school budgets have been slashed and support staff and resources have been stripped out of classrooms, increasing the workload for our teachers.
“The Minister said before the election Labor’s policies would bring more teachers into the system and reduce workload, but that’s clearly not the case and our children will end up paying the price.”
