I welcome this debate to talk about and analyse the report card of this tired and worn-out Liberal-Nationals Government.

You would think that, being the Government's day to introduce the public interest debate [PID], it would choose a topic that would rank highly in its favour.

Of course, that would be somewhat logical.

Just because Government members have read some numbers from this morning's talking points does not mean they actually understand them. It does not mean it will happen or they will solve the problems after nine long years.

There are few more important tasks for a State Government than resourcing our public schools, but on every measure and against every matrix, the Government has failed students and parents.

Today's public interest debate about compulsory mathematics, additional teachers and mathematics scholarships simply highlights the Government's woeful track record. The numbers do not add up.

The Government has dropped the ball and is desperately trying to pick it up again.

From this year, students in New South Wales will have to meet minimum standards of literacy and numeracy to attain their HSC. The Government is only now announcing new maths teachers. It has set minimum standards but has failed to provide the support students need to reach these minimum standards—talk about putting the cart before the horse.

We all know why the Government has moved this PID today. It has been reeling from the recent Program for International Student Assessment [PISA] scores. These results were damning and the numbers tell the exact truth of how the Liberal-Nationals Government has put our students into the negative zone when it comes to education.

Let us go through some numbers. First, maths results in New South Wales fell to 489 points in 2018 from 494 in 2015.

Second, New South Wales is nationally in fifth position behind Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, Queensland and Western Australia, which are all Labor Governments I might add—I have never heard of a ranking numerical system where you claim to go forwards by falling backwards but under this Liberal-Nationals Government any number in the system is possible.

Third, only 55 per cent of New South Wales students have attained the national proficient standard in mathematics. So much for being the No. 1 premier State.

We can talk about and tout a back‑to‑basics curriculum, but this is a Government that cannot even get the basic numbers on its financial budget right.

Because of this failure, it is our students and their future that miss out.

If the Government wants to talk about numbers today, let us talk about them:

(1) the $1.3 billion blowout to light rail;

(2) the $6 billion budget blowout on WestConnex;

(3) the $225 million Parramatta high rise blowout;

(4) the $100 million on the football stadium;

(5) the $1.5 billion on the unnecessary relocation of the Powerhouse Museum—the list goes on.

If you want to talk about compulsory mathematics, it is not our kids and our teachers but those opposite who need to go back to compulsory mathematics.

Frankly, the Government's report card grade is a big fat "F".

One can only imagine how many extra resources and how much better off our students would be if the Government had got its financial mathematics right and had managed the books right.

Our good friends in the Labor Government in Victoria spend nearly $5 billion more on education. It is no wonder that under a Labor Government mathematics is No. 1 in Victorian schools.

Are we supposed to believe that just because the Government makes a couple of talking points in its public interest debate that it is magically going to resolve the chronic underfunding of our schools?

Just because those Government members say it, that does not mean it is true.

Where is it going to come from? When will they be available? Where will they be trained? What schools will they be allocated to? Will the students see the benefits in this decade or the next decade? I reckon my daughter will be at university by the time we see this.

There are several aspects of this PID that do not add up.

The truth is that the Government has had nine years to address the chronic shortage of maths teachers in New South Wales.

It has had nine years to improve results and resources in our schools. After nine years it has failed and it will be failing for as long as we can say.