Before Seattle can promise every family free preschool and childcare, someone has to answer some hard questions:
- Is guaranteeing access to child care really achievable?
- If not, who gets priority for free care?
- How would the city actually pay for it?
- And, importantly, how can the city ensure the care retains the high standards the Seattle Preschool Program is known for?
Answering those and other key questions will be the job of a new study on universal access to childcare announced by Seattle’s Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) and expected to get underway in 2027.
“Seattle Preschool Program has earned four consecutive national gold medals because we’ve been disciplined about quality,” said DEEL Director Dwane Chappelle. “This study is necessary to ensure that future expansion and any expansion in economic support for families protects the track record of high-quality services and positive child outcomes Seattle is known for. We need real-time data on workforce capacity, facility readiness, and true costs, so families receive great care, and our early childhood educators are appropriately compensated.”
The study is part of a larger program rollout funded by the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy (FEPP), approved by voters last November. Roughly $1 million from the levy has been set aside for evaluations in its first yea. DEEL plans to hire a research firm to conduct the universal childcare study by the end of the year, using $200,000 in FEPP funding to help with that process.
Once researchers are hired, the review itself will take time to conduct, according to DEEL spokesperson Marissa Rouselle, who estimated a minimum of 12 months. Rouselle said researchers plan to survey families, track trends in the early learning industry, and consult childcare providers and other officials, with equity built into the process from the start.
In the meantime, FEPP funds will already be growing access to childcare and preschools as the City adds 100 new seats to the Seattle Preschool Program each year for the next six years.
In a statement, Mayor Katie Wilson said she is determined that income should not determine access to childcare.
“Every Seattle family should have access to high-quality, affordable childcare and preschool, regardless of their income or ZIP code,” Wilson said, adding that the study’s findings will shape how the city funds and builds out programs going forward.
Read more from our universal childcare series
Universal Childcare: What can Seattle learn from New Mexico? New Mexico’s new universal, no-fee child care system has insights
The cost of childcare: One block, five families, $200,000+ a year . Childcare for two kids can cost as much as four years of college tuition
Immigrant providers are critical to achieving universal child care . Equity in child care access depends on it
What’s the DEEL? Seattle’s work toward universal child care: DEEL Director Dwane Chappelle discusses where we are and what it will take
Childcare by the numbers—and where to turn for help: Seattle is a ways away from universal child care, but assists thousands with care
In Seattle, few employers significantly subsidize childcare: Outlier YMCA considers child care ‘not a perk, but a foundation for equity and opportunity
‘We need long-term funding not short-term fixes’: City and state leaders say they’ll keep working to address the state’s child care crisis
