Mr Turnbull said on Thursday he believed the federal government should move to end its involvement in public schools, but continue funding private and Catholic schools. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday. Credit:Andrew Meares States would be able to make up the shortfall by levying their own share of income tax, he said. The federal government currently pays $6.4 billion a year to public schools, compared to $10.7 billion to non-government schools, with most funding for public schools coming from the states. While the Victorian government blasted the proposal, NSW Premier Mike Baird said he supported the idea of giving "more autonomy to states" but wanted the six-year Gonski agreements funded in full.

Mr Turnbull said his approach would end "arm wrestling" between Canberra and the states over who is responsible for schooling. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday. Credit:Andrew Meares "I suspect no federal government would retreat from funding and continuing to support the non-government school sector because there would be a concern that they would not get a fair go from state governments," he told ABC Radio. "But in terms of state schools, state education, government schools, if the states had the money, if they had the money from a share of the tax base, would they not do a better job managing those schools themselves?" Illustration: Ron Tandberg

The federal government's federation green paper, released by then prime minister Tony Abbott last year, said this approach would create "clean lines of accountability as it would be clear which schooling sector each level of government is responsible for". But it warned: "This option could, however, lead to very different funding models being applied across the states and territories and between the government and non-government sectors, leading to differences in the level of public funding for schools with similar population characteristics. "This is likely to give rise to concerns about fairness, as well as introduce perverse incentives for governments to shift costs within the system." It could also limit state governments' ability to effectively regulate non-government schools and improve and ensure consistency across all sectors. "It would also undermine the considerable degree of cooperation across the schooling sectors that has built-up over many years," the green paper found.

The paper was far more positive about an alternative proposal to give state governments full responsibility for all schools. This option would provide "absolute clarity" about who is responsible for schools, promote better service delivery, provide more budget certainty and allow better planning. The Abbott government's National Commission of Audit recommended the states take funding responsibility for all schools, including the non-government sector. But Catholic and independent schools want to maintain their historical relationship with Canberra. The Independent Schools Council of Australia on Thursday welcomed Mr Turnbull's ongoing commitment to funding their sector. NSW Premier Mike Baird said: "If you look at what the PM did, one thing I'm very very supportive of, he's determined through his proposal and approach to federation is to give more autonomy to states.

"That's something I absolutely welcome. Is this the right mechanism? We need to do some more work." Victorian Education Minister James Merlino said Mr Turnbull's proposal was a "cynical attempt" to justify the federal government's decision to abandon the Gonski school funding agreement. "It's not enough that they've torn up a signed agreement, they now want to brazenly ditch all responsibility for our government schools," he said. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said: "It's completely and utterly unacceptable that Mr Turnbull is so willing to wash his hands of ensuring Australian kids get a decent education." Australian Education Union deputy federal president Maurie Mulheron said Mr Turnbull's approach would be a "disaster".

"Locking in a system where state governments have full responsibility for public schools and the federal government for private schools is locking in inequity and would be the end of needs-based Gonski funding," he said. Loading with James Robertson, Henrietta Cook Follow us on Twitter