"As Education Minister Christopher Pyne is fond of saying, it's not all about money. The crucial issue is how and where that money is best spent.
And this is where the Labor government made a fatal error and lost control of the school funding debate. It focused on the extra $14.5 billion it was pouring into the system rather than the fundamental structural reform the Gonski model heralds.
The problem facing Pyne is not that the Gonski model is bad and unworkable; the problem is the way Labor mishandled its implementation. It would be a mistake for him to throw out reforms that provide a fair, transparent and equitable way of giving schools the money they need.
The Gonski reforms redistribute money to schools that need it most, but the main message conveyed over the past two years was that Gonski means more money. It was fed by the perception that Labor was offering sweetheart deals to get states to sign up."
