Throwing money at students won't make them smarter - at least according to the federal government.
That's how the government is dismissing Labor's pledge to spend billions extra on schools after it committed to the final two years of the Gonski funding deals.
The opposition has promised $4.5 billion for the 2018 and 2019 school years, with a $37 billion total package over a decade.
But Education Minister Simon Birmingham says it's a ducks and drakes method of improving education outcomes, a cash-splash that doesn't show how it will work.
The coalition government won't fund the final two years of the Gonski deals but will talk with states and territories and non-government schools from 2018 onwards on agreements.
The minister says that's a details-first and funding-later method to get real results in the classroom.
"We won't be tricked into thinking that just spending more money automatically improves results," he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.
Labor is promising school students better teachers, more resources and one-on-one support under its plan.
Students with disabilities will get an extra $320 million over three years in extra funding for early intervention and focused support programs.
The package will be paid for by the opposition's planned crackdown on multinational tax avoidance.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said it was the largest ever funding boost to schools.
Australia was under "immense threat" of falling behind internationally on school standards and the deal would restore the nation's position on science, maths and reading.
"Unless you are prepared to fully invest in our school system and the education of our young people, talk about innovation is just simply talk," Mr Shorten told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.
Teachers warned it would be an election-fighting issue, pushing the government to match Labor's pledge.
"Stop playing with the lives of young Australians and commit to the Gonski model," NSW Teachers Federation president Maurie Mulheron told reporters in Sydney.
The National Catholic Education Commission said Labor's package would give certainty to schools, teachers and parents but it was important it was a realistic plan.
WHAT LABOR IS PROMISING:
* 95 per cent Year 12 (or equivalent) completion by 2020.
* Australia in top-five countries for reading, maths and science by 2025.
* More individual attention for students.
* Better-trained teachers with tougher entry standards and lifting STEM qualifications.
* More support for students with special needs such as early-intervention programs.
