Dear Editor:

Re: Change child-care rules, Letters to the editor, Burnaby NOW, Oct. 6.

Having been in the child-care field myself for 20 years, let me make the following points. I have become accustomed to an ignorant, uninformed and generally oppositional attitude from politicians who have better things to spend money on than children. Likewise, there are always those of an 'old-school' world who think that child care is nothing more than an optional luxury for those who can't be bothered to be with their own children.

Yet in my 20 years within the field I have never encountered someone who claims to be an early childhood educator make such backwards suggestions and try to masquerade them as solutions in a child-care crisis. I am not sure where you have worked, but I know myself that it would be impossible to find a centre of quality where caregivers don't do laundry, dishes and myriad other housekeeping tasks.

As for children sleeping a "large portion" of the day, we are lucky if we get 45 minutes uninterrupted minutes of the day (which, by the way, is when we do most of the housekeeping tasks).

As for one staff member managing five infants, sure you are right, most of us could "manage," but we don't "manage," we care. We provide a safe, healthy learning environment for children. To increase the ratio of children would only be adding work to an already undervalued, overworked and underpaid group of people.

As for the city, municipal politicians say, "Ask the province." The province says, "Ask the federal government." For all things sane, someone should step up. All child-care centres should put their hands up for money and government support, and we shouldn't have to beg. Children are no less valuable to society when they are under five than they are when they enter the public school system. Something to think about: "Pay for my child care today, and I will pay for your bypass surgery tomorrow."

Together we are strong, divided we are small.