Helping kids in need

Winston Peters rightly says we ‘‘have to be prepared to pay for good teachers’’.’ (February 18).

But he’s wrong if he thinks that’s enough to make the long tail of low achievers disappear. Schools, no matter how well funded, can’t overcome all the disadvantages of kids who come to school hungry, are constantly sick, move from school to school as their family is pushed from one rental to another – or who just find it easier not to attend school at all.

If we don’t tackle the problems of inequality, low incomes, and the housing crisis, we can’t expect those kids to take their place in the lively new job markets that are developing.

With a few lucky exceptions they won’t become the taxpayers of the future that we’ll need to support our pensions and our healthcare.

But, you say, tackling those problems will need more spending and we’ve got to keep the Budget in surplus.

Well, we could afford it if everyone paid their fair share of tax instead of so many avoiding it through trusts, capital gain property investments, etc.

Time for an end to the ‘‘smile and shrug’’, ‘‘I’m not worried about that’’ responses of the past eight years. PETER RANKIN Evans Bay