A Labor government would scrap the existing government's plans for a new City Beach College and use the money to establish a new high-rise education precinct in the Perth City Link zone, leader Mark McGowan has announced.
A new purpose built academic college located in the heart of the city would open in 2020 and accommodate the Years 7-12 currently at Perth Modern School and a new state-of-the-art Scitech.
Built on government land above the Perth Busport and next to the Perth Train Station, the Education Central building would have two separate outdoor areas for each facility.
It would include an indoor sports centre, an auditorium, cafes, conference facilities and a new planetarium.
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Perth Academic College would be in the top floors, with outdoor learning areas on every floor and a playing space on the roof. It would cater for 1500 students who would enter via dedicated secure lifts.
It would be a state-of-the-art school, Mr McGowan said, with a focus on mathematics and science whose students would benefit from direct access to Scitech.
Perth Modern would be refurbished and become a new public local intake school, easing pressure on nearby public schools.
New local intake enrolments would be phased in beginning with its first intake of Year 7 and potentially Year 8 students in 2020 and by 2025 it would accommodate 1500 Year 7-12 students.
Local intake boundaries would be amended as per the State Government's plan to take enrolment pressure off Churchlands Senior High School, Shenton College and Mt Lawley Senior High School, and residents in those schools' areas would be able to choose their own school or the new Perth Modern from 2020.
"Labor's plan brings the brightest students together, in the heart of the city and in a purpose built facility linked to a new and improved Scitech," Mr McGowan said.
"This will be Perth's first integrated learning precinct, with direct links to nearby existing facilities including the State Theatre Centre of WA, the Art Gallery of WA and the State Library."
The $45 million project would be funded from the state Budget allocation for the planned City Beach College.
Education Minister Peter Collier said the plan was flawed and based on politics rather than sound policy.
He said the Education Department would look at a new city school in 10-15 years but it was not necessary before then.
"There are less than 200 public school students living in the Perth inner area around Perth Mod," he said.
"The pressure point in secondary education are in the western suburbs; they are not in the inner city. The planning for City Beach College has been meticulous, it is based on rock-solid population and enrolment data.
"The idea of a high rise school might sound good but is simply flawed from an educational perspective. That is why we have committed to build CBC to take the pressure off those western suburbs."
The state government, believing it made a mistake in 2005 by closing City Beach High School, last year announced it would open a new City Beach College.
It looked for a site for a long time and eventually settled on the original site, necessitating the relocation of two private schools.
But this announcement has been a controversial one, with residents around Doubleview Primary School angry at having the International School presently on the old City Beach site joining their site - which will mean the primary school loses its oval.