The Labor government's contentious guarantee of special funding to private schools blindsided the experts selected by the party to shape its education policy.

Leaked minutes of the March meeting of Labor's education policy committee reveal internal frustration over the surprise legislation that guaranteed Catholic and independent schools 25 per cent of the state government funding given to public schools.

Critics of the guarantee say it is at odds with the principles of the Gonski model, which seeks to make school funding needs based and blind to the public or private status of schools.

The guarantee was promised to the Catholic Education Office just days before the November election.

It has fuelled concern within the wider labour and public education movements about the influence of the Catholic Education Office and the conservative shop assistants union (SDA).