THE state's peak teachers union has questioned the Gonski funding breakdown and what it will mean for public students.
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With just a week left for Premier Lara Giddings to sign up to the federal education reforms, the Australian Education Union is keen to get some clarity around why it appears Tasmanian public students look to get an unequal amount of funding.
Of the $400 million the state will receive over six years, for a contribution of $140 million, the public sector will get $230 million, Catholic schools $110 million and independent schools $60 million.
According to AEU state president Terry Polglase, the breakdown in percentages equates to 57.5 per cent to flow to public schools, 27.5 per cent to the Catholic sector and 15 per cent to the independents.
In Queensland, which has also not signed up, the split is 87 per cent to the public sector, 6.6 per cent to the Catholics and 6.7 per cent to the independents.
Nationally the average sits at 83 per cent flowing to the public sector.
Mr Polglase said the fact that the state's public system already catered for about 70 per cent of the student population, including the vast majority of students with learning difficulties, from low socio-economic backgrounds and with disabilities, was against the principles of Gonski.
He said it was great the deadline was in view.
``But at the end of it I'm sure the Tasmanian public would like an explanation about why there is this inequity and that those in the public system are not receiving the fair share,'' Mr Polglase said.
It was recently revealed that regardless of whether the Premier signed Tasmania up or not, the state's Catholic and independent sectors still stood to receive Gonski funding.
Ms Giddings has been reluctant to sign up to the federal reforms since April.
A federal Education, Employment and Workplace Relations spokesman did not explain the disparity between Tasmania's public school funding and that of other states yesterday but said ``the Commonwealth's new schooling resource standard provides funding for all schools based on needs of every student in every school''.
``Schools whose current funding levels are below the SRS will attract additional funding under the new arrangements.''