Doubts raised over all-day kindergarten: Money could have been used elsewhere, some say
By Jeff Bell
Times Colonist
September 3, 2009

…. Michael McEvoy, a Greater Victoria school district trustee and vice-president of the B.C. School Trustees Association, said the step toward full-day kindergarten at such a tough economic time came as a surprise.

"Many of us were actually mystified about the announcement, given the cutbacks in all sorts of spheres and the loss, for example, of the annual facilities grants for school districts. We have to make sure that the present programs that we have are adequately funded, and we have been advocating that for some time."…

Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid said the decision made on full-day kindergarten reflects a view to the future of the province, and recognizes clear evidence from other jurisdictions that full-day kindergarten has great value….

MacDiarmid said the new harmonized sales tax is contributing to the funding for the program.

"I do not believe we would be able to do this if it were not for the transition funding we're getting through the HST. I think that's where quite a bit of the funding for the health and education increases is coming from."

McEvoy said questions about full-day kindergarten shouldn't be seen as diminishing its potential value. He said he is concerned about how it will be phased in, and whether it could skew attendance patterns if available at some schools and not others.

"In principle, expanding kindergarten, I think, is considered to be by many a very good thing, but you have to look at a way to practically implement this. Our existing K-12 system is suffering under the weight of cutbacks now."

….The president of the Greater Victoria Teachers' Association -- a district affiliate of the B.C. Teachers' Federation -- also said the budget reference to full-day kindergarten raises concerns. The BCTF has been a long-time proponent of full-day kindergarten, but Thierry Ponchet said there are questions to be asked about where the government would get the funds for its new proposal.

"I'm puzzled and in a quandary as to what to make of this," said Ponchet. "I'm not taking it seriously. They haven't gone into any detail as to how they would fund this."…