"This is education's moment," according to Mark Scott, the new head of NSW's Department of Education.
"There's money in the system, and all the key groups are in agreement on reform and that we're moving in the right direction."
If that doesn't sound like the acrimonious war over funding that has dominated the debate between state and federal ministers, Scott was talking about something else - a philosophical shift towards evidence-based teaching.
The key groups he mentions are teachers, principals, parents and the department – but what about the federal government?
"The federal government is wrestling with the money but there's no disagreement on the basis for reform – it's needs-based funding."
In an exclusive interview with Fairfax Media, his first since taking the reins of the education department in September, Scott strongly backed the NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli's fight for the "Gonski" needs-based funding model for NSW schools - a fight that has put the minister on a spectacular collision course with his federal colleague Simon Birmingham.
"We've made a very strong argument as to why Gonski should be fully funded, we've made a strong argument as to the benefits that can already be seen," Scott said.
"Governments need to think of this as an investment, and we're confident that as they do that, we will see good returns. So we'll continue to make the argument with Canberra as best we can."
Whether or not they can change the federal government's position "is a matter for the politicians. I think there is compelling evidence as to why the investment has been valuable here in NSW".
Speaking at the bright new classrooms of Moree East Public School, the beneficiary of a $15m rebuild and resources injection, Scott said the state's education system was on the brink of great change as cutting-edge global research on what works begins to be rolled out in NSW schools.
The regional primary school with a large indigenous and high-needs population was among the first in the state resourced to run special early literacy and numeracy programs with extra classroom specialists.
"These are some of the most disadvantaged kids in the state," he said.
"I'm really impressed when I go into primary schools at how teachers are really teaching to the individual needs of every child. They're using data, they're using evidence, how they're working and operating in teams," he said.
"In NSW there is the strong sense we're on the right track. I talk to parents groups and teachers groups, the government and the non-government sector. A lot of them feel the investment has been the right thing - the Gonski funding... And that we're seeing good results.
"Education faces great challenges, but there's a genuine partnership across the sector."
Appointed by Premier Mike Baird in June, Scott was a surprise choice for the top education bureaucrat job, coming from outside the system.
He points out that before his 10 years running the ABC, he was a teacher, education journalist and policy adviser, and that his wife is a school principal (at Wenona on Sydney's north shore).
"I've had experience at running a big organisation, a high profile organisation and one that's gone through a lot of change," he said. "So I hope to bring my experience and wed that with the deep educational experience that exists in the Department of Education to get a good result for the kids in our schools."
He indicated an appetite for reforming the sprawling education department which has been slow to modernise its work practices.
"We have to make sure that it's a child-focused organisation, and that all the decisions that are being made at an executive level keep coming back to what is in the best interests of the children in our care," he said.
"There's been a significant thinning out of the bureaucratic layers in recent years, that is part of the money that's been freed up to invest in schools, in Gonski. As much as possible we want to spend our money inside the school gate, providing schools with the support services they need.
"More teachers in the classroom providing specialist services and care – that's our top priority."
On the state's immediate challenge, the drastic, looming shortage of classroom spaces in NSW which needs to accommodate an extra 160,000 students in the next 15 years, Scott said the department had to move quickly. Its planning for new schools was going through cabinet processes, "but we're confident we'll have the money."
Scott will give his first major speech since taking the job this Friday at a major government education symposium in Sydney, after spending two days touring regional and remote schools in the state's north and central west with education minister Adrian Piccoli.
He said he is settling in happily to the new role. "It's a great job, fascinating. I'm really enjoying it. There's not been a day I've wished I was back at the ABC."
