Where’s the money, Martin?

LOCAL schools promised federal funding as rewards for meeting literacy and numeracy targets have yet to receive the money.
In 2009, the former Labor State Government signed a bilateral agreement with the Commonwealth to reward schools who met literacy and numeracy targets, Shadow Minister for Education Rob Hulls said.
He said schools, including Kambrya College in Berwick, expected the funding earlier this year but were recently told the money was transferred from the Education Department to Treasury and that the Education Department would now need to bid for the funds.
Mr Hulls said Kambrya College Principal Michael Muscat wrote to State Education Minister Martin Dixon asking why $140,000 in funding allocated to the school had been withdrawn and given to Treasury.
“I urge the Minister to disperse these funds as originally intended so that our financial commitments for 2011 can be met,” Mr Muscat wrote.
“We strongly believe that we have earned the reward money of this program and any review of our school data would verify this”.
Mr Hulls has called on Mr Dixon to explain why federal funding for schools had been transferred from his Education Department to Treasury coffers.
Minister for Education Martin Dixon did not respond to requests made by the News before it went to print.