Shorten won't promise on schools cash

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says he can't commit before the next federal election to a final figure on how much Labor would put into school funding.

Bill Shorten won't say how much federal Labor is prepared to commit to schools funding if it wins the next election.

But he insists Labor will always do better than the Liberals when it comes to meeting the needs of Australia's school children.

"I can't give you the final answer about the final dollar before the next election," the opposition leader told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

"But what I can promise you ... is that the Labor party is fundamentally committed to needs-based education."

Labor has attacked the government for cutting $30 billion from schools over the next decade and deciding to only increase funding in line with inflation from 2017 instead of keeping an unfunded Gillard government commitment.

However, Mr Shorten has not committed Labor to restoring the funding costs.