EDUCATION has become a major battleground for this year's federal election and each major party has a different policy to pitch to voters.
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Much of the debate between the Coalition and Labor has been around the Gonski funding model which is the current system used to fund schools.
It was brought in under Labor in 2013 after a review of Australia's education system by businessman David Gonski.
Under the model all schools get a set amount of money followed by an extra amount determined on the school's socio-economic standing and whether students are especially disadvantaged or need special facilities.
While the Coalition has said they'll fund the first four of six years needed for Gonski, their policy differs from Labor in that they'll offer $1.2 billion for the last two years of the plan.
Meanwhile Labor has promised to fund it in full at the cost of $4.5 billion over 2018 and 2019 and said it will find the money by targeting multi-national companies avoiding tax, increasing the cigarette excise and winding back superannuation concessions for wealthy people.
President of Lithgow Teachers Association Mike Morgan said since the funding has come in it has made a world of difference to Lithgow High School, where he currently teaches science.
"It's allowed us to expand what we're doing to help students that are struggling, but also to help bright students who want to push further," he said.
"It allows us to have services like tutoring and hire extra student support staff so we can have one-on-one time with students who are struggling."
Mr Morgan said there's a dichotomy between the NSW government and its federal counterpart, where the former has promised a commitment to the Gonski scheme and the latter is proposing something which is similar to the previous funding model.
"This is the strange thing to me: We've got a state coalition that thinks this is a fair system and 'let's make it the best for everyone' and a federal coalition that says 'let's go back to supporting the elite privates'."
Mr Morgan said people need to care about Gonski because improving the education of students makes Australia a better place to live.
"I know it's a cliché but the children are our future.
“They're not a cost, they're an investment.
"A highly educated country has got to have a good economy, so an investment in our economy has to be an investment in education."
