Funding increases for needy schools would be fast-tracked and tightwad state governments penalised under a plan offering a potential circuit-breaker for the Turnbull government's bid to create a new school funding model.
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'Gonski 2.0' education push
Education Minister Simon Birmingham has introduced legislation and detailed modelling to states under the new 'Gonski 2.0' proposal.
The plan by the respected Grattan Institute think tank would allow the government to remain within its funding envelope while addressing many of the concerns the Greens have expressed about its legislation.
The Greens originally indicated a willingness to work with the government on its changes but the party has toughened its stance in recent days following a backlash from public sector teacher unions and internal disagreement about how to proceed.
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The Greens voted against the government's school funding bill in the House of Representatives this week but the party will not make a final decision until after a Senate inquiry examines the legislation.
A submission to the inquiry by Grattan Institute school program director Peter Goss will argue the government's changes are an improvement on the Gillard government's 2013 Gonski legislation.
The government's plan treats the states and different school sectors more fairly and comes closer to the Gonski review's vision of a needs-based system, he will argue.
Grattan will also propose three significant changes to improve the legislation.
Firstly, by moving more quickly to a "floating" indexation rate the government could reach its school funding targets within six years rather a decade.
The government has proposed moving to a floating indexation rate, based on inflation and wage growth, from 2021 -Â a move Mr Goss argues should come into effect immediately.
This would free up money to move schools more quickly to their appropriate funding level under the Gonski formula.
Secondly, there should be tougher requirements on state governments to fund their schools to their appropriate Schooling Resource Standard (SRS).
Federal funding to states would be reduced unless state governments provide sufficient funding to move their schools to at least 90 per cent of SRS by 2027.
The government's legislation currently only requires state governments to maintain their 2017 funding levels.Â
Thirdly, Mr Goss is calling for the creation of an independent National Schools Resourcing Body as recommended by the Gonski review.Â
Greens education spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young has said the slow timeframe of the government's model is one of her biggest concerns and that she wants to get more money into disadvantaged public schools sooner.Â
She also said the Greens would be pushing for the creation of an independent authority to take the politics out of school funding.
According to Mr Goss, Labor's plan to spend $22 billion more than the government on schools over a decade is too expensive and poorly targeted.Â
Labor will vote against the government's new model, forcing it into negotiations with the Greens and the 12-senator crossbench.Â
The Grattan Institute backs the government's plan to strip Catholic schools of generous arrangements and cut funding to over-funded private schools.Â
Mr Bandt told Parliament this week that "Gonski 2.0 is a con and not a good deal for public schools".
The current legislation has too many flaws to support, he said.
"The government needs to go back to school and re-read David Gonski's original report," he said.