Federal Labor is building a smarter future for Australia, making sure kids in the Illawarra and Southern Highlands get a world-class education though theBetter Schools Plansays Member for Cunningham Sharon Bird and Member for Throsby Stephen Jones.

Under our plan, schools in the region stand to benefit from $79 million more public funding in 2019 compared to the 2013 school year, which is an increase of over 40%*, said Ms Bird.

Which means, on average, each school across the electorates of Throsby and Cunningham will be $1.65 million better off in 2019 compared to 2013.

Stephen Jones says he supports the assistance Federal Labor is giving to over 18,000 local families, like the SchoolKids Bonus that helps cover some of the costs of sending kids to school like textbooks and uniforms.

Only the Rudd Labor Government is investing in schools in our region as well as helping thousands of families with cost of living pressures, said Jones.

The Coalition has admitted they will make cuts to schools and scrap the SchoolKids Bonus leaving thousands of families worse off.

Mr Abbotts refusal to fully guarantee six years of funding under theBetter Schools Plan, would rip $7.2 billion out of schools across the country.

He has no long term commitment to better school funding, no requirement for states to contribute extra or distribute according to need.

This is what we already know about Abbotts plans for cuts to schools:

• NSW schools will be worse off by around $920,000 on average, compared to Federal Labors Better Schools Plan.
• Tony Abbott will target Federal Labors $2.5 billion, 10-year Trades Training Centres in Schools program, which has already funded nine centres in the region worth over $10 million.
• They will rip almost $420 million from over 700,000 students across NSW by scrapping the Schoolkids Bonus. Thats a loss of $1,230 every year for a typical family in the region with two kids, and a $15,000 loss over the course of their kids education.

These are the savage cuts that local families know about. But Tony Abbott still hasnt come clean about what else he will cut, said Ms Bird.

We need to put the spotlight on Mr Abbott and make sure families know about how much he will cut from schools, said Jones.

Because if Tony Abbott wins, our schools will lose.

* Based on Commonwealth funding simulator, assumes all State and Territory participation, includes independent school growth figures subject to pre-appeals/data cleansing. Information correct as at 20 August 2013