Prime Minister Scott Morrison insists the states will warm to a $4.6 billion peace deal he has struck with Catholic and independent schools.
But the NSW Teachers Federation and NSW and Victorian Education Ministers have described the deal as unfair.
NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes is refusing to accept the "unfair" agreement, which his predecessor Adrian Piccoli has derided as a "pathetic" capitulation to the powerful and well connected.
Mr Stokes, a Liberal like Mr Morrison, believes the Commonwealth is pitting public against private schools.
"We are very concerned that the federal government should not strike any special deals with any sector - public or private - but rather ensure that school funding is provided on the basis of need to all public and private schools," he told 2GB radio on Friday.
Victorian Education Minister James Merlino is also filthy about the deal, saying it was unacceptable for non-government schools to be funded at a higher level.
"We won't sign up to any agreement until this inequality is addressed. We want a fair deal and equality for all kids," he tweeted.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten described the funding deal as a Band-Aid fix.
"He's done a patch up job to keep one group of people happy but he's ignored all the other government school kids," Mr Shorten said.
The prime minister is unperturbed.
"I don't think Rob's yet had the chance to really look at the full details of this," Mr Morrison told ABC radio.
"I'm sure once he sees that, he'll see those comments don't weigh up with what we've actually announced."
Mr Morrison says there will be no impact on state school funding arrangements.
"These announcements sit outside of those, and they're true to what the needs-based funding regime is, to make sure we're making decisions based on the actual income of parents," he said.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann pointed out the federal government does not require the support of the states to increase funding to the Catholic and independent schools sector.
The government is gifting Catholic and independent schools $3.2 billion over 10 years to fund changes to the way parents' wealth is measured, based on income tax data.
An additional $1.2 billion will be spent on Catholic and independent schools as the government sees fit.
The deal brings to a head months of discussions to end a long-running war over the Gonski 2.0 school funding model.
