'Too hard' for Coalition to unpick education reforms Independent schools have warned the Coalition would find it extremely difficult to unravel the Gonski reforms, which apply to all non-government schools regardless of which states sign up. The prediction came after Prime Minister Julia Gillard won her first battle to lock the changes into law, with the lower house passing a bill to overhaul the school funding system from next year. The Senate is expected to follow suit this month. As the Australian Education Union said it hoped the reforms were now "Tony Abbott-proofed," members of the non-government school sector doubted an incoming Coalition government would be able to repeal the law between the election and the end of the year. At the threshold of one of the most important education reforms: Prime Minister Julia Gillard and School Education Minister Peter Garrett. This is because the Greens and Labor hold the majority of upper house seats and even if the Coalition wins a majority in the Senate the new members would not take up their roles until mid-next year. NSW has struck a $5 billion six-year deal with Ms Gillard to deliver the needs-based funding reforms, but the ACT is the only other state or territory to have signed so far. The Association of Independent Schools of NSW executive director, Geoff Newcombe, said schools had to start budgeting and attempts to repeal the law later this year would create further uncertainty. "I would hope the Coalition would come out and give us more detail than they have," he said. Other non-government sector sources said it was unlikely that a hostile Senate would agree to overturn the legislation and it would be even more difficult to do so once the funding had started to flow. "That's why the government is forcing through the legislation and creating barriers to protect it," one source said. The law sets up the system whereby base funding would be allocated for each student, to be topped up with "loadings" that recognise categories of disadvantage, including disability and low socio-economic status. States and territories can choose whether to join but non-government school authorities are deemed to be participating, meaning federal funds will flow to Catholic and independent schools regardless of whether they are in states that have not signed up. The Coalition plans to repeal the law and push through its own bill that will effectively extend the current funding system while a new plan is developed. Opposition education spokesman Christopher Pyne said a national agreement appeared unlikely by the June 30 deadline. Greens school education spokeswoman Penny Wright vowed to block any efforts to unpick the reforms, saying the move would "create great upheaval and uncertainty for schools and be irresponsible." School Education Minister Peter Garrett said the nation was at the threshold of one of the most important education reforms, which could mean an extra $14.5 billion in state and federal money flow to schools over the next six years. But NSW Catholic Education Commission executive director Brian Croke warned of extra red tape for schools and said MPs were not given enough time to properly consider the legislation.