Daycare groups to file 40,000-strong petition opposing CAQ's pre-K plan

Representatives from the province'sdaycareswillfile a petition in Quebec City today, on the eve of the provincial budget,withover 40,000 names opposing the Legault government's pre-kindergarten plan.

They're also demanding a public consultation into the proposal.

"40,000 names speaks volumes," saidValrie Grenon, president of the daycare workers' union (FIPEQ-CSQ).

"We are asking to stop the deployment of pre-kindergartenfor all because it doesn't meet a need," she said."Parents have made this clear, bothin the petition or in conversation. It is clear that Franois Legault hasn't listened to the parents."

The CAQ government has promised to offer a public school program forfour-year-olds across the province within five years, starting with 250 more classrooms by next fall.

Officials from FIPEQ-CSQandthe Quebec council of early childhood education services (CQSEPE),in concert with the province's opposition parties,have travelled across Quebec building support for the petition, which launched in December.

The director of CQSEPE, Francine Lessard, said that Quebec must listen to the province's parents.

"We are asking the government to be bold enough to hear the families and ask them the question:Do they really want pre-kindergartenand ifso, why? "

Both organizations want the government to invest more money in public child care rather thaninject money into a plan to make pre-K classes available to four-year-olds.

As it stands, pre-Kclassesare available onlyin schools in areas that qualify as low-income.

If passed, Bill 5 would also require the service to be offered by "all school boards according to the general framework provided for in the Education Act."