A new group calling itself the "Need to Succeed Alliance" is urging Education Minister Christopher Pyne to stick with the schools funding reform introduced by the former Labor government.
Need to Succeed includes Ken Boston and Kathryn Greiner, both members of the review panel which produced the Gonski report that led to the funding reform that starts next year.
In an open letter to Mr Pyne, they say the current SES (socio-economic status) funding model was no longer answering student needs and Australian student performance had declined.
"If this continues, Australia risks being left behind. The risk is greatest for our poorest and most disadvantaged students," the letter says.
Mr Pyne faced a barrage of criticism this week after he said the coalition would only honour one year of the four-year funding agreements.
He's set to sit down with state and territory counterparts in Sydney on Friday to discuss a new system to start from 2015, based on the old Howard government SES model.
Need to Succeed says the new funding model has a per capita base funding for all schools and loadings for categories of disadvantage.
"We believe this is the way to give every student what he or she needs to achieve, regardless of the school they attend or their background," their letter said.
NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli, whose state signed a four-year funding agreement, said he expected the deal to be honoured and the Gonski model upheld.
"The NSW government has an agreement with the commonwealth government, given effect in commonwealth legislation, which we expect to be honoured," Mr Piccoli said.
The previous funding model, based on socio-economic status, had failed, he said.
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