New South Wales has become the first state to sign up to the Federal Government’s contentious Gonski reforms of school funding.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard and NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell signed the National Education Reform Agreement, which will see the state net a $3.27 billion slice of the education reform funding pie.

Under the funding arrangements, New South Wales will contribute a further $1.76 billion to the reform.

On top of the announced funding, the Federal Government has committed to grow its school education spending by a further 4.7 per cent pear year from 2014 onwards, while NSW has agreed to increase its own school budget by 3 per cent from 2016 onwards.

“This agreement between the Federal and NSW Governments sets the benchmark for other states and will drive the reforms we need to see if Australia is to be in the top five in the world in reading, maths and science by 2025,” Prime Minister Gillard said in a statement earlier this week.

“The Australian Government is determined to keep working closely with all remaining state and territories– and with schools, parents and communities right across the nation – to see these reforms agreed by 30 June 2013.”

NSW’s announcement will place pressure on the other states to sign up to the agreement.

Despite the announcement, Victoria is continuing to express misgivings over the plan, accusing the Federal Government of providing NSW a different set of numbers for the funding reform.