The strong Australian economy will underpin the educational reforms that Prime Minister Julia Gillard has unveiled on Monday, requiring a total funding of about $6.5 billion that will be spread over the next decade.

In an interview with ABC today, Ms Gillard pointed to the country's economic strength as the main pillar that will support her government's response to the Gonski Review plus the parallel financial contribution that will come from state governments.

She is equally optimistic that by next year's convening of the Council of Australian Governments, national and state authorities would have threshed out the thorny issues of funding responsibilities.

"I call on the states to come with us in good faith and in a co-operative framework," Schools Minister Peter Garrett was reported by the Australian Associated Press (AAP) as saying in his appeal to local governments to give the reform plan a chance.

Ms Gillard, however, is convinced that by 2025, the goals she outlined for the country's schooling system would be realised because "we have a world-leading economy," which appears as her best ally at the moment.

She assured too that the promised budget surplus will be delivered next year, with the government duly-updating "all of our economic forecasts in the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook."

And in a separate radio interview, the prime minister rejected accusations from the Coalition that the new measures would translate to tax burdens for the average Australians.

"We are not going go have taxes rise, no," Ms Gillard was reported by Fairfax as saying on Tuesday morning.

But the claims being peddled on the matter by government were untrue, according to Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey.

"Tell us where this money is coming from. The truth is they are trying to put off the fact that they are going to introduce new taxes, new levies and they are going to have increased taxes to pay for all of this," Mr Hockey told Sky News today.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, for his part, viewed Ms Gillard's current educational reform thrust as lacking in specific details, which should give Australians a clear picture on how exactly the overhauls will unfold.

"There was no concrete funding, there was no specific timetable," Mr Abbott told reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday, adding that at best what Ms Gillard had unwrapped yesterday was a vague plan.

However, Finance Minister Penny Wong explained in an interview with Sky News that what the government is readying for roll out represents significant reforms that would impact on the lives of Australian students.

These reforms, Senator Wong added, would require difficult decisions on the part of the government, which in turn were necessary in order to meet the needs of the nation.