Vote No I-1033

Foundation for Early Learning is featuring a guest blog post from Board Chair Jim McCarthy and former Chair Vijay Vashee. If you are interested in being featured in the Foundation's blog, please contact Joel Ballezza, Communications Manager at joel@earlylearning.org.

We worry about kids. We worry about our children, but we also worry about those who need us. That is why we disagree with Tim Eyman’s latest initiative 1033. It is a bad idea and it will make it harder for many children and families to succeed. It will significantly reduce funding for education and critical health programs vital to our state’s youngest and most vulnerable families. Vote “no” to I-1033.

I-1033 will severely limit what Washington State can spend on children and families during a time when they need us most. Specifically, I-1033 will make it difficult for schools, public health, fire and police departments to increase budgets from year to year based on need.  During this economic recession, often cited as the worse since the Great Depression, we need to make investments and work at keeping children safe and healthy. This is important to giving our children a fair start at life.

I-1033 isn’t a new or novel idea; Colorado has proven this idea to be a failure. After passing their version of this law in 1992, Colorado’s K-12 funding plummeted, reducing Colorado to 49th in the nation for education funding. Colorado also saw the number of children without health insurance double. They repealed their law in 2005 after watching it wreck havoc on the

ir state and local budgets. According to Ed Week, Washington is already 42nd in the nation for K-12 spending. As early learning advocates we cannot stand by and watch education and critical health funding be reduced. We need to increase, not decrease investments in children and families, especially during times of economic hardship. As a community we need to provide a safety net for families, not break it apart when people need us most.

As board chair and former board chair of Foundation for Early Learning, we know that there are genuine needs in our state. We hear from our early learning community coalitions that children are slipping through the cracks. Our coalition members tell us that children are missing out on important wellness and developmental screenings, not entering kindergarten knowing the basics, and too many children are behind on the first day of school. Walla Walla has the fourth highest teen pregnancy rate in the state and the second worst low-birth weight. I-1033 would make it harder for a new mother in Walla Walla to access vital medical programs to ensure a healthy delivery and a good start at life. Families, especially new and young families, need better support.

Our partners in the Early Learning Public Library Partnership say that their libraries are filled with parents seeking information on jobs, child care, health insurance, and finding resources that support their families during this economic recession. Many libraries have seen an increase in visitors, but unfortunately, this is also a time when library budgets and staff hours are getting cut.  Let’s make it easier for families to seek out support, not harder.

Our early learning partners, including the Children’s Alliance and the League of Education Voters, have also made their positions clear—they are against this initiative. The early learning community has worked too hard for Washington’s babies, children, and families to allow I-1033 to undo the progress we have made. We don’t want to see the state lose momentum in their commitment to our youngest children.

During this time when families need us most, we need to be looking for smart and strategic ways to help children receive a fair and healthy start in life. We cannot let Tim Eyman drag our children towards substandard education and inadequate medical care.  These conditions will show up in future needs for remedial education, missed vaccinations, and increased stresses on our families and social support systems. I-1033 won’t help families, it will hurt them.

Join us in voting “no” to I-1033 by November 3.

Signed by: Jim McCarthy, Chair Foundation for Early Learning, Vijay Vashee, former Board of Directors Chair, Foundation for Early Learning