Tropica

[Blake]

Sunrise Network: Hundreds of Teachers laid off

by John Baker

Nikutabi - Earlier today the Minister of Education Ashlyn May (Act!) announced that as a result of the budget cuts from earlier this year, the difficult decision has been made to lay off hundreds of public-school teachers. In her statement she said that this was unavoidable as the cuts were necessary as the teacher's union was unwilling to come to an agreement on pay that would allow the ministry to stay on budget without having to cut any jobs. She is insistent that these layoffs will not result in a decline in student performance. She is hopeful that as the economy improves from the tax cuts passed as part of the budget the money will be reinvested into education so that these layoffs end up being temporary. This announcement comes on the back of a close election; however, Minister May was adamant that this decision was not planned or even discussed prior to the election and is simply the result of the new reality based on recently published budget projections.

However, the claims made by Ashlyn May have been refuted by the head of the Teacher’s Union Judy Hightower, who stated that the Teacher’s Union was unwilling to accept a pay cut but had dropped their demand of a pay increase in order to find common ground with the Ministry of Education. “Our kids are already piled into classes with nearly thirty other kids. Their schools are falling apart, and many teachers are leaving the profession altogether before these layoffs. This government is failing our children. We are going to have to consider our next options because we cannot continue like this. Teachers haven’t had a pay increase in over seven years, and the cost of living is out of control. It is unacceptable.”

Act! members of the government have voiced their support for this move, focusing on the fact that sometimes tough decisions have to be made. The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have both emphasized the importance of governing within our nation's means to prevent building up massive debt that will saddle our children without the means to even pay for basic public services. Tropican First members of Parliament have started to talk in the media about the ability to save more money by moving to a school voucher focused system rather than a government run education system. Though that idea does not at the moment have broad governmental support.

Alliance and Labour MPs have been outspoken in their opposition. “This government is destroying our public services.” Gerald Fenn, the leader of the Labour Party stated. Going further: “These disastrous austerity cuts have been going on for too long. We had an opportunity to end them at the last election, but the selfishness and narcissism of the Alliance Party allowed this government to continue. We could have had a return to the years of William Tama. When our public services were strong and our students always performed well on their text scores. I can promise any teacher considering who to vote for in the next election, that only voting for Labour will lead to having a government that prioritizes our public services. This country will not accept a government led by those it sees as extreme. The Alliance Party is too far away from the center to win the votes needed to form a government.”

Alliance Party Leader Mālie Keahi, a former schoolteacher, was much more focused on attacking the Government. Stating that the government has known about these cuts for months but held off on the unpopular layoffs until after they were reelected. “How do they expect us to believe that they only decided now to do layoffs when they cut the budget six months ago? No, they just did not want to lose the election. Because they knew that the people were crying out for change. They want stronger public services. They want to end this austerity. The worst part is if you look at where the teachers have been laid off from schools that are majority Tropican. They are hurting the schools that need teachers the most. Act! is not an unwilling partner in this. They are complicit in the cruelty of the National Party and now Tropican First! We are going to fight this government's layoffs as much as we can and if the teachers strike, we will be right there next to them.”

Polls are showing that these layoffs are not supported by the public with about 63% of respondents saying that they disagree with the layoffs of teachers this year, with only 29% of respondents saying they agree with them. Additionally, about 52% of respondents say that teachers would be well within their rights to strike because of this. However, National Party and Tropican First voters generally approve of the layoffs whereas Act! voters are much more mixed. Labour and Alliance voters overwhelmingly oppose the layoffs.

The Teacher’s Union is apparently frustrated with Labour's response. With an anonymous source stating that their focus on the Alliance Party rather than government is extremely disappointing. The source would go on to state: “People are losing their jobs, and you’re focused on your political horse race. If Labour cannot get their act together on focusing on being a voice for teachers rather than grumpy politicians, we are going to have to consider endorsing a different party next time.” If that happens it would be the first time a labour union has endorsed a non-labour party in decades.

The fallout of these layoffs is likely not going to be known for months or years. But it likely will not be the last round of lay offs of this government, nor are the divisions between the Alliance Party and Labour likely to end any time soon.