Washington state voters’ rejection of ballot initiative 2109 is a victory for kids, families

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Louisa Spofford (lspofford@savechildren.org) 

OLYMPIA, WA (November 6, 2024) – Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) – the political voice for kids – applauds Washington voters’ rejection of a proposal that would have gutted early learning and other education funding across the state. 

Ballot initiative 2109 would have cut more than $2.2 billion over 5 years from education, worsening Washington’s child care and school funding crisis from Seattle to Wenatchee. 

Christina Ko, Washington state manager for SCAN, said: “Voters’ overwhelming rejection of ballot initiative 2109 is a victory for kids across Washington. It is a mandate for political leaders to expand early learning and child care programs kids and families across the state rely on every day to learn, grow and thrive.” 

“Washington continues to face a child care crisis. The lack of child care costs Washington’s businesses $2 billion each year as working parents struggle to find accessible, dependable care for children. Now that the election is over, it is time to focus on the work ahead. Heading into the 2025 state legislative session, we must ensure kids are a priority in the funding decisions our lawmakers will be making.” 

“Save the Children Action Network is proud to have worked with a broad coalition of advocates to oppose I-2109 and safeguard vital funding for kids across the state. Last night’s vote shows the power of grassroots organizing. SCAN will continue to advocate for kids and families, and hold political leaders accountable for prioritizing children during the next legislative session and beyond.” 

As a member of the No on I 2109 steering committee, SCAN joined a broad coalition of advocates including parents, educators and business leaders, to educate voters about I-2109 and why they should vote no. We ran a grassroots campaign, using peer networks and storytelling to spread the word about how harmful this measure could be, published several opinion articles and letters to the editor in news media across the state, made more than 1,100 phone calls, and sent more than 1,000 hand-written postcards and nearly 14,000 text messages to get out the vote. 

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Save the Children Action Network (SCAN) was created in 2014 as the political advocacy arm of Save the Children, to be the political voice for kids. We work to ensure that the issues critical to children’s lives and futures are given top priority by our elected leaders, building bipartisan support to make sure every child has a strong start in life.  

Learn more about SCAN here: https://savethechildrenactionnetwork.org.