NT backs coalition's schools funding A WEEK after rejecting the federal government's school funding reforms, the Northern Territory government has announced that it has struck a deal with the federal coalition to fund schools with fewer restrictions. Chief Minister Adam Giles on Friday said if elected, a coalition government will boost education spending in the Territory by the same amount as federal Labor over the forward estimates, but without the strings attached. Last Friday, Mr Giles called the Gonski reforms "a con," saying it required the NT to pay $314 million in cash that it couldn't afford in light of the $5.5 billion debt inherited from the previous Labor government. The federal coalition is offering $150 million in funding over four years. "Territory schools will remain independent and have an autonomy that is directed by the school council and principal in connection with teachers and parents, and that's a very good outcome," he said. Mr Giles denied that he was using NT schoolkids to play politics. The government's current funding model would distribute money over a six-year period, which creates difficulties as forward budgetary estimates only go for a four-year period, he said. The federal coalition's plan will give the NT security, Mr Giles said. We've got certainty on the amount of money we'll receive, certainty that Territory schools will remain flexible, certainty that no school will go backwards, and certainty that we won't have to report to bureaucracy in Canberra.