The Victorian Liberals have chosen to back their mates in Canberra rather than fight for fair school funding for public school kids.
Shadow Education Minister Cindy McLeish told ABC radio this morning that the Andrews Labor Government should roll over to Scott Morrison’s demands, which would see Victorian public school students get less funding for the next decade:
“They [the Andrews Government] are playing games and not signing the deal, whereas the other states are on the deal.”
The deal the Victorian Liberals are backing would see public school kids receive less funding than private school kids. Unlike the Shadow Education Minister, we will always fight for a fair deal for our students.
If Victoria took the dud deal the Liberals are advocating for, it would see our public schools miss out on about $800 million in the next three years. This is the equivalent of around 2,000 extra public school teachers.
To ensure no one is misled about the claims being made by the Morrison minority Government, the Andrews Labor Government has today launched an advertising campaign to advocate for the best result for Victorian kids.
The Liberals’ proposal is to support non-government schools to get to 100 per cent of the school resource standard but only allow government schools to get to 95 per cent. This is fundamentally unfair and illogical.
In a demonstration of the Labor Government’s commitment to negotiating and reaching a new agreement, it will lift Victoria’s contribution to the schooling resource standard to 75 per cent over ten years.
Through the Education State, the Labor Government has invested $8.9 billion to improve every classroom in every school for every student. This investment has delivered Victoria’s best ever NAPLAN results in reading and numeracy in 2018, showing impressive outcomes that can be achieved when education is a government priority.
More information about the campaign is available at:
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Education James Merlino
“The Victorian Liberals have once again shown their true colours – they will always support their Liberal mates in Canberra at the expense of properly funding Victorian public schools.”
“We have an obligation to let Victorians know what the federal government is proposing and that we'll keep fighting to get the best deal for our schools.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020