National Gonski Day

Teachers, parents and principals are taking part in national Gonski Day today as the campaign for school funding reform gathers momentum.

Schools are hosting visits from politicians, holding morning and afternoon teas and undertaking community activities.

The Australian Education Union has also urged all supporters of greater school funding to take a moment during the day to phone or email their local MP. Contact details are available here.

In a video message released for the day, AEU Federal President Angelo Gavrielatos said the I give a Gonski campaign so far had been a great success. But pressure needed to be maintained on federal MPs.

“This is a once in a generation opportunity to get schools funding right for the benefit of children across Australia,” he said.

“What David Gonski has recommended is a fundamental overhaul of the way schools are funded. There would be more funding, primarily for public schools, and a much fairer, more transparent way of allocating funding for education so the needs of all students can be met.”

Gonski Day is being celebrated at the same time as the Federal Government prepares to make its long-awaited response to the Gonski Review recommendations.

The Prime Minister Julia Gillard told an online forum on the weekend that the Government was committed to action.

"We haven't just been sitting around and waiting. We have been working on all of the technical stuff that the review called on us to do and will be announcing our response to the Gonski review will before the end of this year," she said. "We want to keep driving change in Australian education."

The Australian reported on Monday that the much anticipated response will come within the next month after further deliberation by Cabinet.

Support for action on Gonski has been rapidly growing with Independent MPs, The Greens and a number of federal Labor MPs calling for action. Union leaders, business and community groups are also onboard. A majority of state and territory leaders have pledged their support, although they have indicated the funding for Gonski should come from the Federal Government.

The ALP in NSW also called for action during their annual conference in Sydney earlier this month.

There has also been an unprecedented public response to the I give a Gonski campaign  with over 30,000 people registering their support in just over a month and pictures of teachers and parents giving a gonski flooding in.

Register your support today or join the campaign on facebook to stay in touch.