Senate continues to advocate for principles noted in this resolution during conversations about funding and other related topics.
Whereas, The crisis in the California State budget and its implications for the California Community College System has considerably reduced funding to colleges for programs and support services to students and is currently threatening to close or reduce services at many campus child development lab-schools and children’s centers;
Whereas, Campus child development lab-schools and children’s centers serve as instructional support in that they serve as state-of-the-art venues for supervised student teaching and child/classroom observation assignments within the community college system’s core 24 unit Early Childhood Education/Child Development (ECE/CD) course requirements, and if such centers are diminished or closed, students could be forced to complete assignments in a variety of private and not-for-profit child care centers which do not meet the standards of a college laboratory or ECE/CD programs would be forced to eliminate the student teaching requirement all together;
Whereas, These centers also serve as student support services by providing exemplary child care and pre-school education to children birth to five, supporting the participation of a diverse population of individuals who have young children and who might otherwise be unable to attend college; and
Whereas, The Early Learning Quality Improvement System (EL QIS) Advisory Committee, which was formed in response to the passage of SB1629 (2009), has been charged with developing the policy and implementation plan for California’s Early Learning Quality Improvement System, and California’s community college child development centers are well-positioned to play a critical role as the EL QIS considers how to best allocate funds to promote the development of quality programs for young children and effective workforce development throughout the state;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges recognize college lab-schools and children’s centers as academic laboratories linked to the Early Childhood Education/Child Development programs and strongly support the optimal systemwide and institutional funding of these programs in the same manner that science labs, vocational labs, and learning centers are funded; and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges encourage the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, the State Department of Education Child Development Division, and the Early Learning Quality Improvement Advisory Committee to work together to ensure that the California community college child development labs and children’s centers are adequately funded through State Department of Education grants to fulfill their role as optimal training sites for California’s early childhood workforce.
MSC Disposition: Local Senates, Chancellor’s Office, Department of Education, Early Learning Quality Improvement Advisory Committee