Kutztown University has an amazing preschool and kindergarten program called the Early Learning Center (ELC). It has been a feather in the cap of the university for a long time, providing true excellence in education not just for the children who go through the program but for the college students who learn from the lab school as well. Over 4,000 observation hours are provided by the ELC to Kutztown education majors each academic year. Student teachers and graduate students also benefit from participating in the program. In short, it has always been a program that we have been able to point to with pride.
Whether or not this issue concerns you directly, it will have an effect on the entire community--faculty, students, staff, and local residents.
• It will affect our ability to recruit and retain quality faculty and staff. With the heavy teaching loads and pressures for scholarship and service in order to be tenured and/or promoted, young faculty families, as do those everywhere, rely increasingly on quality child care and education.
• It will affect our ability to recruit and retain education majors. The ELC is a selling point for attracting students with a passion for teaching.
• It will affect university/borough relationships. Countless families in Kutztown have had students in the Early Learning Center, often for multiple generations.
The ELC is not something irrelevant or unessential that can be trimmed away without damaging the entire entity. It has been an integral part of the institution from the beginning. It reflects our core values and helps us achieve our vision of being "the region’s center for excellence in academics, culture, and public engagement" (Kutztown University Vision Statement http://www.kutztown.edu/about/mission.shtml).
We ask the administration of Kutztown University to honor its commitment to educational excellence as a teaching institution by maintaining support for this vibrant and valuable aspect of our community.
