Wednesday, 23 August 2017, 12:57 pm Press Release: NZEI
Robbing kids to pay for roads
23 August 2017
A bigger
than expected surplus has only been possible because of the
chronic underfunding of the education of New Zealand's
children, says NZEI Te Riu Roa.
NZEI President Lynda
Stuart said educators would be sickened by the size of the
surplus, after years of being told there wasn’t money for
the funding jolt desperately needed in early childhood
education and schooling.
"The government this week
announced it was spending $10 billion on 'the new generation
of roads of national significance’, but we say we should
be spending it on the new generation that really matters -
the children of New Zealand,” she said.
“This surplus
has come at the expense of public services. This government
is telling New Zealanders that roads and potential tax cuts
are more important than children, the sick, the vulnerable
and our environment.
“We actually are a wealthy country
and we can afford to properly fund our biggest priorities.
It’s time to put people first, especially our
children.”
NZEI Te Riu Roa members work in every community in New Zealand, leading and advocating for quality public education.
We are the 50,000 principals, teachers and support staff who work in primary, area and secondary schools as well as early childhood centres, special education and school advisory services. We come together as NZEI Te Riu Roa - New Zealand's largest education union, a Treaty based organisation and a powerful advocate for quality public education.
We have the most important job in New Zealand - educating for the future.
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