Starting November 1st later this year the Children, Youth and Family Services Department or CYFD may not be able to provide financial assistance for child day care services to lower income based families living in New Mexico. The budget cut, consisting of over $2 million dollars will not be used to help these lower income families. It will go to building a horse ranch for wild horses.
Many families across the state of New Mexico depend on the funding, so they can have adequate child care and early education for their children while they attend school, work and sometimes both to better their family. If the funding is cut, there will be many families that will have to simply quit school and put their education on hold, or work two jobs just to make ends meet. They have nothing to start even a small business or set up a New Mexican company to help themselves.
It just does not seem to make any sense. Education is stressed as an importance across America. Instead of letting these hard working families continue to have financial assistance so they can finish college in hopes to get better paying jobs which in effect would eliminate their need for this funding; New Mexico is going to take this money to buy land around Santa Fe for horses, leaving families at a loss and in a sticky situation.
Where in any case does this balance anything out? Are wild horses really more important than our children’s futures as well as the jobs and the educations of thousands of New Mexican Residents?
One organization is determined to do something about this issue. The OLE Working Parents Association has initiated a Child Care campaign under SJR 10. Their campaign requests for a permanent fund of $150 million dollars for Early Childhood Education.
The Rules Committee Chair, Senator Linda Lopez discussed the campaign with her committee which in effect was passed by a 5-3 vote so far. The next voting will take place on February 23rd by the Senate Judiciary Committee in Albuquerque. Anyone wanting to attend, can email OLE at: parents@olenm.org for more information.
So in closing, as a parent myself, I am also very concerned. I understand that the building of this horse ranch is supposed to open doors to new jobs and revenue for New Mexico. What I do not understand however is, how is this horse ranch more beneficial to the People living in State of New Mexico? Ideally, people should have the funds to secure the future of their children and start a small business by getting inexpensive service from any registered agent in New Mexico. People can form to What we really need to consider is, is this really worth putting so many hard working families out there at risk of having to quit school just for some wild horses? Education helps people contribute to the State, not Horses.
Sources:
http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/politics/families-lose-assistance-for-daycare
http://www.olenm.org/WPA
http://www.koat.com/money/25120554/detail.html?taf=alb