For many years, our cooperative preschool classrooms and parent education program have run through a partial tuition waiver. This allows caregivers to enroll in our classes through the community colleges and receive parent education and support for the cooperative preschools.
The State Board of Community and Technical Colleges passed a new funding model that no longer recognizes parents and caregivers enrolled in college parent education classes as students.
The loss of funding will put Parent Education Programs and their affiliated nonprofit labratory preschools at risk for closure. In short, the entire cooperative preschool system is under immediate threat of being dismantled.
Here is a link to more information about our programs and the current situation:
https://sites.google.com/view/save-opep/home
I'm writing with urgency and hope that a program that has been dearly beloved by Seattle families for decades will not be discarded, exactly when it is most needed and necessary.
I have been a part of Parent Education programs through Seattle Central College and North Seattle College for over 16 years. I was a student in these programs with my own young children and have since gone on to teach as a parent educator employed by North Seattle College working at several cooperative preschools in our community.
These programs are essential for multiple reasons:
1. They lead to workforce instructions outcomes. Many parents take time out of the traditional workforce when they are raising young children. These programs give parents valuable skills in running a non-profit organization as well as in teaching children. Many of my students have gone on to teach in local preschools and elementary schools after completing our program. Others have used our program to provide work and volunteer experience on their resumes to avoid the dreaded "resume gap" that many parents experience when they take time off to raise their kids.
2. They help to provide community leaders and community connections. As a current PTSA board member at Lincoln High School, I can tell you unequivocally that PTSAs all over Seattle are full of former cooperative preschool members. This is because these programs teach parents how to advocate for their kids and their communities. In a city where so many folks have come from other places to raise their families, these programs provide community and support for countless families. This means that our citizens are better able to cope with the stresses of raising families in our modern world and more likely to raise healthy, happy children.
3. They provide affordable and quality early childhood education. Most of the families who participate in our program have been priced out of private preschools and may not qualify for low-cost preschool programs. We provide a developmentally appropriate classroom experience that prepares kids for future classroom success through a play-based curriculum.
Now, perhaps more than ever before, our city and state have pledged to value early childhood learning. I am aghast that in this climate a vital resource will be lost forever.
Please advocate for our children, families, schools and communities.
I promise you that the absolute treasure of cooperative preschools and parent education is invaluable. It is time to put our money behind our values. We deserve nothing less.
Thank you for your consideration,
Erin Bernau, MSW, LICSW
Parent Education instructor at Little Wildflowers (formerly Crown Hill Explorers) and Northleaf Campus Cooperative Preschools, North Seattle College