Three months into Seattle’s new $600 million-plus education levy, where has the money been going?
A year after Seattle voters approved the city’s largest-ever education tax, money has started flowing from the $600 million-plus levy to expand preschool classrooms and get more students into college.
The city’s education department also recently announced a $400,000 initiative with the YWCA Seattle-King-Snohomish to help youth experiencing homelessness. And for the first time, charter schools may soon compete with traditional K-12 schools in Seattle for annual awards of up to $560,000 to pay for tutoring, family engagement and other programs meant to support historically underserved students and communities.
“Our main goals are to make sure our kids are kindergarten ready, kids graduate from high school college and career ready and we want to make sure kids have opportunities for livable wage jobs,” said Dwane Chappelle, director of the city’s department of education and early learning.
