Families and faculty members from Washington state’s Parenting Education program traveled to
Olympia on Monday to deliver artwork made by children in the at the state’s parenting education preschools to the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges and the Governor’s office. The action is part of the families’ and workers’ efforts to prevent closure of a program that has supported working families for 80 years.
Parents and educators delivered hundreds of paper plates decorated with handprints made by kids in the program to state board leadership and governor’s office staff. Some plates included messages in support of parent education, written by parents and their children.
If closure of the Parenting Education program and its affiliated co-op preschools goes ahead as planned, approximately 4,500 families statewide will lose access to early learning programs for their children. AFT Washington, which represents some of the staff in the program, pointed out in a news release that this closure compounds pain felt in communities across the state as resources for early learning were cut from the state’s budget in the 2026 session.
The Stand