Right reasons needed for school daycares
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Times
June 13, 2008
Letter By: Lorraine Trulsen

Editor:

Re: Daycare RFP 'confusing', TIMES, June 6

Having been in the field of Early Childhood Education for over 25 years, many of those years in the non-profit sector, I have been watching the evolution of childcare programs in the schools closely.

I understand the …concerns regarding rents, however I would assume that the school has to make up for the lost revenue they are suffering by not utilizing the space for themselves.

Is the school's budget not based on the enrolment in the school? Therefore if schools have two or three classrooms to offer, they have to make some money somewhere. One article stated that the leases would run from September to June -- so what happens to all the families in care when summer comes along?

My concern about offering up all these rooms is how are we going to ensure that they are operating for the right reasons? It has to be about providing high quality, affordable childcare.

Many people probably aren't aware that there is a severe shortage of qualified individuals for this field due to the fact that it is an extremely low-paying sector with no room for advancement. This is not a field where you are going to make yourself money unless you are charging way too high a fee to your parents, (there goes the affordable part) and paying your staff very little. (There goes the quality part!) I do believe that childcare and the school system could have a good partnership, but it would have to be just that, not a private business in a public school. When the government wakes up and realizes the benefits of early education and intervention, which is what children receive in high quality childcare, then perhaps they will start moving forward in the right direction….