Dropout rates are rising. Test scores are falling. And the divide between rich and poor students is widening.

Creating a new federal super bureaucracy might sound like an unusual way to fix state-based public education systems currently leaving hundreds of thousands of, often disadvantaged, students behind.

But Education Minister Jason Clare believes it's the answer, and has today highlighted growing teenage dropout rates in public schools to justify a new federal "Teaching and Learning Commission".

The new super commission would represent a new level of federal involvement in state-run education systems.

And following from a $16 billion funding deal announced with states, it would aim to ensure that money wasn't wasted, and the reforms promised as part of the deals would be delivered.

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