Education minister denies funding 'threat'

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan has denied threatening to withhold school funding from states and territories if they don't sign up to a new deal by December.

Victorian Education Minister James Merlino has accused the federal government of "holding a gun to the head" of states and territories through the tight deadline.

Mr Tehan said he was simply seeking assurances from his state counterparts that funding would still be provided to schools as negotiations continued.

"It's not a threat," Mr Tehan told ABC Radio on Friday.

"Now it's fairly sad, unfortunately, that James Merlino sought to leak that letter to the press and beat it up for what it wasn't."

The public feud erupted between the two ministers over how much the federal government puts towards state schools, after the announcement of a $4.6 billion peace-deal for Catholic and independents.

The Victorian Education Minister is pushing for an additional five per cent from the federal government to ensure state schools also get a boost.

In the leaked letter to Mr Merlino, the federal minister rejects the proposal and says investment to Victorian state schools is increasing.

Mr Merlino, who is also Victoria's Labor deputy premier, says the federal government is demanding states and territories immediately sign a deal, which is unfair.

"Essentially holding a gun to the head of states and territories by inventing deadlines," he said in a statement on Thursday.

"The carelessness with which he (Mr Tehan) has ruled out funding the final five per cent of the schooling resource standard shows complete ignorance to the inequality set out in his own legislation."

Mr Tehan says he has offered to brief Mr Merlino over the changes, but has been told by his office he is too busy.

He believes the Victorian is using school funding to play political games ahead of the November state election and said discussions with other state and territory ministers have been "incredibly constructive".

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, when asked about the coalition's backup plan if the state's don't agree to the new arrangement, said it will spend money that has been committed.

"We spend the money, that's the plan," he told ABC Radio on Friday.

Acting federal Labor leader Tanya Plibersek says Mr Morrison has been using "desperate bully boy tactics" against state governments.

"This is a new low even for Scott Morrison - holding Australian schoolchildren to ransom," she told AAP in a statement on Friday.

NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes says he will "very forcefully" argue for extra state school funding over 10 years when he meets with Mr Tehan on Friday.