The states are circling the federal government like warring children in the schoolyard as they prepare to fight for their school funding.
The federal budget was a "kick in the guts", state leaders said on Wednesday.
Not only do states that signed up to Labor's Gonski deal miss out on the massive increase in funding they expected for 2018, the federal contribution for everyone will now grow at a much slower rate.
In the next decade, schools will get $30 billion less than they anticipated.
"What we saw last night from Canberra was a kick in the guts to the people of NSW," NSW Premier Mike Baird said.
To Victorian Treasurer Michael O'Brien, it was neither fair nor sustainable.
Both states, along with South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, signed six-year agreements with the Commonwealth during the previous Labor government.
The federal coalition insisted it would honour only four years, and Tuesday's budget backed this up.
Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne will negotiate in 2017 for a new four-year agreement.
He spoke to his state and territory counterparts on Tuesday night and told AAP the discussions were "very cordial, friendly".
"They were all surprised and pleased to hear that funding in 2017 was not only secured but actually increased," he told AAP.
A spokesman for NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli said if that was how Mr Pyne characterised the discussion, that was up to him.
But the minister was "bitterly disappointed" the federal government had walked away from a signed agreement.
He's looking at the agreement's dispute provisions and meeting schools to work out how to make the federal government keep its word.
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill says he is prepared to lead a national campaign.
And the Australian Education Union will encourage states to keep being noisy.
"Not only have they lost the fifth and sixth year of funding where two-thirds of the funding resided, but by halving indexation, it's a real cut to schools," president Angelo Gavrielatos told AAP.
Catholic schools are worried the change to indexation will mean they'll have to raise fees to unaffordable levels.
"School funding must keep up with real school costs," National Catholic Education Commission director Ross Fox said.
Labor education spokeswoman Kate Ellis said the cuts would lead to schools closing.
"The funding that this government has put up is not enough to run quality Australian schools," she said.
Mr Pyne couldn't believe any state treasurer had budgeted school funding after 2018 "on the basis of Labor's blue-sky promises".
But NSW and Victoria, at least, insist they did just that, and they'll fight for their money.
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