Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings is signing up to the schools funding plan. Tasmania is signing up to the federal government's school funding overhaul, making it the first state to do so after the Labor leadership change disrupted negotiations. A statement issued by the Rudd government says the deal is worth an extra $380 million in combined federal and state funding over the next six years. The government had previously touted its plan as delivering about $400 million for Tasmanian schools over this period. Of this, government schools were to get a boost of about $230 million, Catholic schools $110 million and independent schools $60 million. Labor Premier Lara Giddings said she had negotiated the funding deal to ensure Tasmania directed a greater share of extra funds to state schools in the early part of the agreement rather than to Catholic and independent schools. But Ms Giddings insisted students would not notice the difference. She said Tasmania had also secured an assurance from the federal government would not jeopardise the share of GST funds flowing to the state. The federal government has committed to increase its school education funding by 4.7 per cent each year, while Tasmania will grow its base funding by 3 per cent in 2016 and each year afterwards. The Tasmanian government will also introduce a new school funding model for government schools called the Fairer Funding Model ""to ensure resources are targeted to where they are needed most"." Despite criticism by the federal opposition about the lack of a national agreement, the government says Tasmania's decision means 63 per cent of Australian school students will receive increased funding from next year. The new funding system applies to non-government schools around Australia, as well as to government schools in jurisdictions that have signed up. At a media conference in Hobart, new Federal Education Minister Bill Shorten said the commonwealth would provide $250 million and the Tasmanian government $130 million as part of the six-year deal. Mr Shorten said the agreement should "breathe new life" into negotiations with other states and he was "not prepared to give up." "I'm optimistic that there is still progress to be made in other jurisdictions," he said. Mr Shorten refused to say whether the new deadline of this Sunday could be extended again, arguing that if he started speculating about it everyone could change their timeframes. "I think Australians work well with deadlines," he said. While Mr Shorten insisted the Better Schools plan should be above politics, he seized on uncertainty over what would happen if the Coalition won the federal election. "If you don't want to risk funding for your child's education, there's a single answer, to support the government," he said