Through the Static

by Gray Trammel

More than half of Washington’s parent education programs have closed, and a new state funding model is threatening the ones that remain. These programs give parents college credit and education on child development, while creating preschools where parents learn alongside their children. At Kirkland’s Lake Washington Toddler Group (LWTG), tuition that was about $160 per term could rise to more than $400, as the group faces the loss of state support.

Parent education programs allow adults to study child development, positive parenting techniques, and other topics, while earning college credit. The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) changed its funding model to prioritize programs that are connected to workforce credentials and outcomes. Beginning July 1, enrollment in parent education programs that do not receive SBCTC approval will no longer count toward state allocation funding.

“This has been such a lifeline for myself,” Nailah Diaz, an enrolled parent and Advocacy Chair for the LWTG, told TtS. “When I joined the program, I didn’t have any community, I didn’t know anybody, especially being a young Brown mom from out of state. I felt really alone.”

Diaz joined shortly after moving to Washington, and they said the program also allowed their child to find community as they pursued professional opportunities. State funding for those attending the LWTG helps cover rent, school supplies and teacher salaries, and increases tuition affordability— but Diaz emphasized how the program’s future is “in limbo.”

“Previously, our tuition for every kind of term or semester was around $160,” Diaz explained. “And now we’re looking at going upwards of $400 for a single child to enroll, because now we’re losing funding.”

Now, scholarships and fee waivers are being considered to help families remain enrolled.

“It’s terrifying, we have maybe a year for our program, specifically for Lake Washington,” Diaz said. “But, I mean, planning for a year, you don’t know what’s gonna happen, or what might be thrown your way.”

The SBCTC said the funding change does not require colleges to close their parent education programs; each college decides which programs to continue and how to use available funding.

Impact at local colleges

Tania Hino, a parent education faculty member and co-coordinator at North Seattle College, said more than half of the state’s parent education programs have closed, having obtained that figure from information gathered through the programs and the Organization of Parent Education Programs. Hino entered parent education nearly two decades ago while raising her children. She said the program gave her a sense of belonging and eventually led her to establish Pollitos Cooperativa Preescolar en Español before returning to parent education as an instructor.

“As soon as I entered the parent education program at North Seattle College, I immediately felt a sense of belonging,” Hino told TtS.

Reporting from West Seattle Blog identified parent education programs at 16 colleges: Ten did not qualify for state funding under the new model, while six colleges with existing certificate programs must pursue credentialing to maintain their funding. Hino said the effects of losing parent education may not be immediately visible.

“Little by little, they went belly up,” Hino told TtS.

But the consequences of stripped funding are already visible at Bellevue College. Its Parent Education Program closed on June 30, after 60 years. Four formerly affiliated co-operative preschools— Alpine, Eastgate, Issaquah and Sammamish— continue independently.

Corvilia Thykkuttathil, the former director of parent education at Bellevue College and a former senior adjunct professor, experienced the program first as a parent and later as an educator and director.

“I’m the workforce outcome of this program,” Thykkuttathil told TtS. “I started off as a student, worked as a program assistant and a volunteer, and then when the time was right, I was able to demonstrate that I was willing and able to be a professor in the program, and then finally a director in the program.”

Thykkuttathil said Bellevue had approximately 750 students in 2025, but its impact extended beyond enrollment numbers.

“They would attend class, and then they’d go back, and they’d share with their parenting partner what they learn in our class,” Thykkuttathil said. “They share with their neighbor, they shared with their parent group outside of Bellevue College. That’s what happens. There’s this ripple effect.”

She said the closure also creates an access issue for families who cannot easily travel farther for similar educational opportunities.

“I’m concerned about the equity issue, that it simply is not always an option for families to access the types of educational opportunities that parent education offers, and that could be for a host of reasons. Certainly, economically, it’s more expensive, but also it’s the issue of access.” Thykkuttathil said.

Thykkuttathil said the loss extends beyond the families who were directly enrolled.

“We can’t rebuild something that has been around for 60 years and has now been dismantled,” Thykkuttathil said. “It is next to impossible to do.”

North and South Seattle’s programs, which serve nearly 4,000 families each year, launched a $2 million fundraising campaign and petition to continue operating through the 2026-27 school year.

“If our programs close, there’s no way they’re coming back,” Hino said.

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