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Voter-Approved Children’s Fund Profile: Seattle, WA

The Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy was designed to invest $638 million over seven years to child care and preschool, K-12 college and career readiness, and postsecondary access.
Photo provided by the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy

Voter-Approved Children’s Fund Profile: Seattle, WA

Name of Fund: Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy

Percent of Locality’s Children in Poverty: 5.5%

Annual Revenue: $136.9 million (2023, most recent year available)

Funding Mechanism: Property tax, $0.365 per $1,000 of assessed value 

Year Established: 1990 (The Families and Education Levy passed in 1990 and was renewed in 1997, 2004, and 2011. The Seattle Preschool Program Levy passed in 2014. The Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy passed in 2018 after the other two levies expired.)

  • Percent of Voters Who Approved the Fund, 1990: 56%
  • Percent of Voters Who Approved the Fund, 1997: 61%
  • Percent of Voters Who Approved the Fund, 2004: 62%
  • Percent of Voters Who Approved the Fund, 2011: 64%
  • Percent of Voters Who Approved the Fund, 2014: 69%
  • Percent of Voters Who Approved the Fund, 2018: 69%

Expiration Date: 2025

Fund Purpose: Comprehensive support for children and youth from child care to postsecondary access

Filed under:

Infants and Toddlers, Early Childhood, Middle Childhood, Youth, Young Adults, Advocates/Intermediaries, Policymakers/Agency Leaders, Publication, Voter-Approved Children’s Funds

QUICK LINKS

Fund History and Description

Fund Purpose and Impact

Governance and Administration

Relevant Links

More Resources

Updates and Events

Worked with Children’s Funding Project

  • Children’s Funding Project community of practice member
  • Children’s Funding Accelerator grantee
Fund History and Description
Photo provided by the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy

In 1990, Seattle Mayor Norman Rice convened an educational summit and series of community meetings to discuss problems facing Seattle Public Schools and how the city could better support students. Participants created a list of priorities, which included making every child “safe, healthy, and ready to learn.” This led to the passage of the Families and Education Levy in 1990, a voter-approved property tax increase that generated nearly $70 million over seven years. The Families and Education Levy dedicated funds to after-school programs, student health services, early childhood development, and other student and family services.

Voters renewed the Families and Education Levy in 1997 and then again in 2004 and 2011. The last two renewals included a tax increase to support expanded goals and recommendations generated by a Levy Advisory Committee, including focusing on students with greatest academic need and supporting college and career readiness. In 2013, the Seattle City Council established a new goal of making affordable, high-quality preschool available to all children and worked to design an action plan.

In 2014, Seattle voters approved the resulting Seattle Preschool Program Levy with 69% support. 

In 2017, as both levies were set to expire, Mayor Jenny Durkan released a Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Action Plan that combined the two levies into a single renewal proposal. The city placed the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy on the November 2018 ballot, where voters approved it with 69% support. The Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy was designed to invest $638 million over seven years to child care and preschool, K-12 college and career readiness, and postsecondary access. A levy renewal and increase will be on Seattle’s November 2025 ballot to nearly double funding to $1.3 billion over six years and establish several new programs. 

Fund Purpose and Impact
Photo provided by the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy

In school year 2022-2023, funding from the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy helped support the following: 

  • Academic, enrichment, and health services for more than 30,000 children and youth 
  • Participation in the Seattle Preschool Program for 2,042 children at 88 sites, with 68% of participants demonstrating kindergarten readiness 
  • K-12 services for more than 18,000 students across 70 school and community-based partners, where students demonstrated a rebound in English and math proficiency toward pre-pandemic levels with a 6% increase in third- through eighth-grade English language arts and math assessment scores
  • 1,250 scholars enrolled in the Seattle Promise Program, with a 60% fall-to-fall persistence rate, and a completion rate exceeding the national average (33% versus 29%)

In June 2025, Mayor Bruce Harrell signed legislation that will place the $1.3 billion six-year levy on Seattle voters’ ballots in November 2025. As part of his Every Child Ready Initiative, Mayor Harrell’s renewal proposal includes an expansion of the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy in the following areas: 

  1. Ready to Start: High-quality preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, with free tuition for families in low- and middle-income categories, child care copay support, supports for families with children from the prenatal stage through age 3, and direct payments to child care workers.  
  2. Ready to Learn: Free expanded learning supports for Seattle youth including school-day, after-school, and summer academic, enrichment, and mentorship programs; funding for five new School-Based Health Centers bringing the total citywide to 34; and expanded school safety and student mental health services.  
  3. Ready to Launch: Tuition-free college at Seattle Colleges accessible for all Seattle public high school graduates through the Seattle Promise program, supported transfer pathway to University of Washington–Seattle, and scholarships to grow a diverse workforce in high-demand careers such as education, trades, and the public sector.

If approved by voters, the six-year, $1.3 billion levy will double access to affordable child care, expand mental health and student safety services in schools, add five additional School-Based Health Centers, and expand career pathways to help more students enter the skilled trades. 

Governance and Administration

Seattle’s Department of Education and Early Learning, created by the city in 2015, administers the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy funding. The Department of Education and Early Learning works closely with community-based partners, Seattle Public Schools, the Seattle Colleges, and Public Health–Seattle & King County to invest and administer services to children and families. Levy proceeds can be spent only in accordance with the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Implementation and Evaluation Plan, which is adopted by the Seattle City Council via ordinance. 

The Levy Oversight Committee’s purpose is to provide oversight to Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise programs and monitor their outcomes. The 2018 Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy Oversight Committee consists of 17 members, 12 of whom are community members appointed for their relevant experience working with children and youth. The remaining five members include the Mayor of Seattle, the chairperson of the City Council Education Committee, the superintendent of Seattle Public Schools, a representative of the Seattle School Board, and the chancellor of the Seattle Colleges.