Cash raised from 457 visa holders for educating their children in West Australian public schools won't go back into education, a budget estimates hearing has been told.
The money will instead go to Treasury's general funds.
The scheme was originally expected to rake in $120 million over four years from more than 8000 students, but that number has since been revised down to about 4500, and is now anticipated to bring in less than $60 million.
Asked what role his department had in developing those initial figures, which were contained in the August budget, Education Minister Peter Collier replied: "None".
The WA government was last week forced to water down the contentious plan, which would have cost temporary workers $4000 a year for each child.
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But after a backlash over the budget-boosting measure, the charges were pushed back a year to 2015 and halved to $2000 annually for second and subsequent children.
Mr Collier conceded the original plan "was perhaps too severe", and also told the hearing that provisions to take into account financial hardship were yet to be finalised.
He also defended a 30 per cent funding cut to the School Support Program Resource Allocation, which provides funding for special programs, including for literacy and numeracy.
"We're not decimating the funding of schools - yes, we're asking schools to be a little constrained in terms of what they can provide," he said.
When opposition education spokeswoman Sue Ellery asked if he could promise no child would miss out on the programs, the minister replied: "We have never been able to guarantee those sorts of outcomes".
"Having said that, it's up to schools to make a determination - it is supplementary funding."
