Local co-op preschool programs stop receiving state funding because of state decision

SPOKANE, Wash.– Parent education programs and co-operative preschools across Washington are seeing their funding stopped by the state.

It’s part of a decision that the state’s board for community and technical colleges made last year, but local programs are just starting to see the effects.

There are dozens of families across spokane and Eastern Washington that are part of parent education programs and co-op preschools.

The programs allow families to get affordable child care, while also learning about child development and parenting.

But the way these programs are funded changed at the state level last year.

The Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges decided co-op preschools will be funded based on which programs lead to workforce credentials instead of enrollment.

A decision that the board said would decrease the funding for the programs run through Spokane Colleges.

Many community colleges who run these kinds of programs across the state are seeing huge decreases in funding because their parent education programs don’t lead to the proper credentials.

Spokane colleges said it partners with five co-op preschools in Eastern Washington and each school supports about 15-60 families.

It says that the states changes with the way these schools are funded could change the way they’re run moving forward.

Spokane Colleges said the change from enrollment based funding to a model based around workforce outcomes will stop the state funding coming in.

Spokane Colleges responded with a statement that reads in part:

“Because our parent education programs do not align to those categories, they will no longer generate enrollment-based revenue under this model.”

It said the short-term impact of this change will be minimal, but the colleges plan to work with co-op preschools to adapt to the new funding structure.