Education union officials have taken their fight for more public school funding to Parliament House, flanked by some high profile supporters.
Labor leader Bill Shorten and his deputy Tanya Plibersek joined teachers and Australian Education Union campaigners in Canberra on Tuesday morning.
"The education cuts of the last six years are an election issue in the next six weeks," Mr Shorten told reporters.
The union has been highly critical of the government's public school funding arrangements, saying the coalition's plans will leave 99 per cent of institutions below the set standard needed to give kids a good education.
Standing on parliament's lawns amid hundreds of paper flags representing the nation's public schools, Mr Shorten called on the coalition to restore the money it took out of education when it cut funding growth over the next decade.
The demonstration comes just hours before Treasurer Josh Frydenberg hands down his first federal budget.
"We understand that tonight's budget is much more a political leaflet than it is an economic plan for the future, but one thing the government could do is reverse the $14 billion in cuts to education," the opposition leader said.
Labor is promising a $14 billion boost to public schools if it wins the federal election next month, with the Greens also throwing their support behind the union's national campaign.
School funding under the coalition has increased over time as the Gonski 2.0 reforms are rolled out, but at a slower rate than planned under the previous Labor government.
