The coalition has changed its position on education funding because it's scared of a backlash, Education Minister Bill Shorten says.
He described Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's promise to honour the funding agreements signed under Labor's Better Schools Plan as an attempt to "fill a hole" and "put a bit of lipstick on their own policies".
"You simply can't trust the coalition on education and school funding and the best interests of Australian school children," Mr Shorten told reporters in Melbourne on Friday.
Mr Abbott said a coalition government would ensure any funding committed for the 2014 school year would flow to all states and territories and Labor's funding over the next four years would be matched.
Mr Shorten said the move had not robbed Labor of a key election weapon.
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"On the first of August Christopher Pyne says it's a con and it's a cut in funding and on the second of August they say, `No, actually we're going to do this plan'," Mr Shorten said.
"They're concerned about political backlash."
NSW, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT have signed up to the changes, as have independent and Catholic schools.
But Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory have so far held out on signing an agreement.
Mr Shorten said he expected a deal could be stitched up with Victoria but he was not confident of Queensland's Liberal National Party coming on board.
"The LNP government in Queensland wouldn't know a good deal if it bit it on the bottom," Mr Shorten said.
"We're offering them nearly $2.5 billion extra.
"At a certain point you've got say 'You can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink'."
He said talks in Victoria were going well.
"I think that it is possible to get a deal this weekend," he said.
