By Anne Higuera
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
It’s not naptime. It’s advocacy time at the South Seattle College Cooperative Preschools, one of more than a dozen community college programs statewide that provide co-op preschool to kids while allowing their parents to earn college credit and learn effective parenting skills in the process. The majority of these programs, which are unique to Washington state, are now facing the possibility of closure this summer after the state board that governs community colleges voted to direct enrollment dollars only to courses that lead to a certificate or degree, something parent education programs don’t necessarily do. That leaves a popular program that’s been in place for 70+ years suddenly without the state funding on which it has relied.
A statewide parenting education group is now organizing to keep as many of the programs open as possible, including the West Seattle program and its 5 preschool locations. Here’s what that group, the Organization of Parenting Education Programs, wants you to know about why this program that calls parenting a vocation is so important to keep:
By offering parent education through vocational and technical colleges, Washington State aligns family support services with workforce development goals. Parent education programs enable parents to balance family responsibilities with careers and the demands of modern life. Additionally, parents develop workforce skills through running small nonprofit businesses in their communities guided by college instructors. Parents who are better supported are more likely to complete credentials, maintain employment, and contribute to a stable labor force. Over time, this investment strengthens Washington’s economy by increasing earning potential, reducing public-assistance dependency, and supporting intergenerational economic mobility.
Parent education and associated cooperative preschool lab schools represent a cost-effective use of public funds. By addressing challenges early and strengthening family systems, these programs help prevent more expensive interventions in child welfare, education remediation, healthcare, and criminal justice systems. Continued funding is a fiscally responsible strategy that emphasizes prevention, maximizes return on investment, and reduces long-term state expenditure.
The West Seattle-based co-op program points to statistics suggesting a significant return on investment for funds allocated to these programs. “Conservative estimates across multiple parenting and early-intervention models show returns ranging from $2 to $6 for every $1 invested, largely through avoided downstream costs.”
The program has its own advocacy page, with an array of different ways community members can contribute toward the effort to keep their program open, from making a crafty handprint plate with a child to send to their state representative, to signing a petition or calling a legislator. They made a call for action in their winter newsletter:
Over the last several years we have seen multiple programs across the state close. Most recently, the Bellevue Co-op, a long-standing leader in Parent Education, is scheduled to close this June. This has raised urgent concerns about the future of similar programs across Washington, including ours. We need your voice.
We are collecting personal testimonials, letters of support, and stories about how this program has shaped your family’s life. Your words will reach decision-makers in ways that data alone cannot. If this program has mattered to you, your voice can help protect it, for today’s families and for those who will come after you.
The Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges did not explicitly close the parenting education programs as part of its decision to change the way it allocates funds last year; it just ended enrollment funding for most of them. That leaves open the possibility that the programs that lost funding could be restructured to meet the new funding allocation rules or a new way might be found to fund them.
Find out more about the South Seattle Cooperative Preschools program here.