Office for Education

2011 Families and Education Levy Overview

• Goal of 2011 Families and Education Levy: To prepare all children to graduate from school college / career ready.
• Also retains current 2004 Levy outcomes:
  o Readiness for school
  o Academic achievement and reduction of the academic achievement gap
  o Graduation from high school
• 2011 Levy took lessons from 2004 Levy by proposing integrated funding from early learning through elementary, middle and high school allowing for investments that are adjusted for the needs and characteristics of individual schools and their students.

Early Learning Investments:

• Coordinated strategy to prepare children to enter kindergarten ready to learn.
  • New initiative to provide training for Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) care providers, including working with families
  • Continue and expand Parent‐Child Home Visiting Program in partnership with United Way
  • Continue providing pre‐school slots for 4‐year‐olds
  • Expand health, mental health screenings and follow‐up for children in pre‐school, childcare and home settings
  • Provide support to help smooth transition from pre‐school to kindergarten
  • All of this organized around our highest need elementary schools, so that we can start to provide a rational continuum of investments from birth through high school

Elementary School Investments:

• New “block grant” investments in lowest performing elementary schools will support:
  • Extended in‐school learning time for struggling students
  • Out‐of‐school time activities
  • Family support for at‐risk students
  • Culturally and linguistically relevant family support for immigrant, refugee and Native American families
  • Summer learning programs for struggling students
• Will serve highest need elementary schools.
• Can be organized by elementary clusters feeding into middle schools.

Middle School Investments:

• Continues to support students’ academic skill building by funding comprehensive approaches that combine extra learning time during the school day, out‐of‐school time enrichment and social, emotional and behavioral support.
  • Extended in‐school learning time for struggling students
  • Out‐of‐school time activities
  • Interventions for social, emotional, and behavioral support
  • Summer learning programs for struggling students
  • College and career planning advisories and case management
  • Sports and transportation

High School Investments:

• Special focus on academic success in 9th grade
  • Extended in‐school learning time for struggling students
  • Out‐of‐school time activities
  • Interventions for social, emotional, and behavioral support
• College and career planning advisories and case management
• Summer learning programs for struggling students
• 10th grade assessment for college readiness

Health Investments:

• Maintain current school‐based health centers at 10 high schools and 4 middle schools
• Expand school‐based health center (SBHC) to Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center
• Expand SBHC to Mercer Middle School
• Implement health services for Interagency Schools
• Enhance dental services at SBHCs
• Strengthen mental health services

2011 Families and Education Levy:

• $231,560,000 over seven years
• $0.27 per $1,000 of assessed value
• $124 per year for the median household

Fundamentals:

• Strong partnership with Seattle Public Schools
• Partnerships with other community funders and community providers
• Strong accountability structure, including a data‐sharing agreement with SPS and performance-based contracts tied to achieving specific indicator and outcome goals
• Use of data to make continuous program improvements