The government's ECE cuts kick in today, meaning thousands of families will be paying extra for their kids to receive a basic education. The increase is estimated at between $20 and $45 per week per child, but will be more in some areas. One of my friends (who has the misfortune to be subject to a local monopoly) is looking at $90 a week. So much for National's tax cuts if you're a parent.
The outcomes of this are horrendous: fewer kids in ECE (meaning worse long-term education, health and economic outcomes for them), and more parents dropping out of the workforce to care for them. And why? Because this government doesn't see early childhood education as education, but as a babysitting service, which therefore doesn't need qualified staff.
This is madness. As someone pointed out yesterday, we wouldn't accept only 80% qualified bus drivers. We wouldn't accept only 80% qualified surgeons. And we wouldn't accept only 80% qualified teachers. So why are we expected to put up with only 80% qualified early childhood educators?
And meanwhile, the government is refusing to rule out further cuts. The message is clear: National does not value parents, it does not value children, and it will not invest in the future of this country. Instead, like the foreign owners of a privatised SOE, they're asset-stripping it, running it down, and handing out the country's wealth to their clique of rich mates. And we all get to pay for that, now and in the future.
If you oppose these cuts, then the NZEI has started a petition campaign. You can download it here [PDF]. Print it out, sign it, get your friends to sign it, then send it in by 20 May. The government backed down on mining because enough people got angry; lets see if we can force them to back down on this.
