NSW puts university heads on a plate THE decision by the NSW government to accept Gonski funding is a slap in the face to NSW universities. Other states will follow in quick succession and the federal government's raid on university funding across the country will be both legitimised and masked by the euphoria of rescuing the public school system. Doing a deal that strips billions from underfunded universities in order to support underfunded schools is an intriguing exercise in reverse logic. It is strategically nonsensical. One step forward and two back, a common dance step among politicians it seems. It equates to walking backwards into the future, In their single minded rush for the Gonski funding for schools state politicians will happily trample on their own universities. Support the trunk of the education system by cutting off it's head. School and university funding should never be horsetraded. In another political universe neither schools or the universities would lose. In this particular universe however political nous is wanting. Solidarity, at least among the conservative states, may have produced a better outcome - one that funds the substance of Gonski, but ensures that universities do not again suffer the sting of a federal cut. Recall that the $2.3 billion cut comes hard on the heels of the cut of $500 million in research funding. As if this is not enough the federal government refuses to increase university funding rates, doggedly refuses to remove the cap on fees and increases in revenue sucking red tape. Its a nightmare for universities. It's also politics 101, Premiers. Take a stand on Gonski by all means. Assert that the states will buy into schools reform, but not if the price is downgrading our universities. Do the deal but protect the universities. Given the propensity of the federal government to retract and reverse decisions this may have won the day. Meanwhile, we have Australia's biggest state handing the federal government Gonski on bended knee. And the universities' head on a plate. Daryl Le Grew is a former vice-chancellor of the University of Tasmania.