Documents obtained by The Liberals and Nationals under freedom of information have indicated New England schools have received the least funding under the Government’s Best Start Program, despite having the highest proportion of students not meeting minimum education benchmarks.

In the region, about 8-12 per cent of Year 3 students are not meeting the minimum standards in literacy and numeracy, yet the region has only received $74,000 over the past three years under the $15.2m Reading Recovery program.

Mr Piccoli said State Labor was focused on trashing the reputation of disadvantaged schools in the New England through league tables rather than helping lift the skills of poorly-performing students.

“State Labor are hell-bent on allowing the publication of league tables, but aren’t willing to lift a finger when it comes to helping students in towns like Armidale, Tamworth and Gunnedah who aren’t performing well.”