In the previous post on Seattle’s Education Levy, we shared a high-level overview of the program, which is largely considered a model of progressive policy.
But tracking the levy’s specific promises against its outcomes is challenging. It takes considerable effort to piece together a full picture of progress made by the 2018 levy. DEEL’s annual reports only cover four of the seven levy years, and the latest published numbers stop at 2022–23 — too early to reflect the full levy period. Updated information exists, but it is scattered across council briefings, evaluation studies, and city communications. Even then, some core outcome measures — especially race-based equity gaps — remain unpublished.
So this analysis synthesizes what is available into the most complete public picture possible*.
Key takeaways: preschool and early learning
Preschool stands out as FEPP’s clearest success story.
Independent evaluations consistently find Seattle Preschool Program classrooms to be high-quality, developmentally supportive environments. Families overwhelmingly value the program, and children show meaningful gains in school readiness. Participation is particularly strong among lower-income families and students of color.
On achievement gap measurements, the results are mixed. On kindergarten readiness, for example, all groups except Latinx improved, but white children’s gains were so large that race-based readiness gaps actually widened.
| Investment Area | Outcome | Metrics | Numeric Values or Summary |
| Preschool & Early Learning | Children are kindergarten ready | Kindergarten readiness | 83% met age-appropriate widely held expectations across six domains |
| Family reported math improvement | 80% saw math skill improvement | ||
| High-quality, culturally responsive, equitable learning environments | National quality recognition | 3× CityHealth/NIEER Gold Medal | |
| Multiple ways to access high-quality early learning | Children served since 2015 (first year of SPP) | 11,421 | |
| Seat utilization | ~90% annual enrollment | ||
| Families satisfied/very satisfied | 90%+ | ||
| Equity in access | 48% low-income; 75% students of color (2023–24) | ||
| Race-based opportunity gaps are closed | TSG** growth targets by race/ethnicity | Latinx and Asian students gained ground relative to white peers on preschool growth measures, while Black children lost relative ground in some domains. | |
| TSG** “widely held expectations” benchmarks | High overall performance but white children met the benchmarks at higher rates and those gaps increased modestly over time | ||
| WaKIDS*** readiness by race/ethnicity | Readiness rose for children of color, Asian, Black, and white children (Latinx flat), but white children’s gains were much larger. | ||
| WaKIDS*** readiness gaps | Race-based readiness gaps widened substantially, especially for Latinx and Black children, despite general improvement |
**TSG = Teaching Strategies GOLD, an observational formative assessment for preschool growth across six domains: language, literacy, cognitive, math, social-emotional, and physical
***WaKIDS = kindergarten readiness assessment based on TSG, used across Washington State
Key takeaways: K-12
The K–12 results under FEPP are mixed but meaningful. Graduation rates rose in levy-supported schools — especially among Black students — and more students are taking AP and IB courses. The teaching workforce also became more racially diverse, and students report strong experiences with culturally responsive practices and belonging.
But the same period also saw drops in an “on-track” composite measure that reflects academics, attendance, and discipline, along with modest declines in students’ perceptions of instructional quality. From a performance standpoint, the picture is one of system strengthening and equity progress in key areas, alongside uneven academic recovery hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Investment Area | Outcome | Metrics | Numeric Values or Summary |
| K-12 School & Community-Based | Students academically prepared (grade-level standards) | Youth perceptions of skill growth | 85% (21st-Century skills), 76% (social-emotional skills) |
| “On track” measures for 3rd, 6th, and 9th grades | Declines district-wide for all schools, with slightly smaller drops in levy schools | ||
| Students graduate high school on time | Four-year graduation rate change between 2018-19 and 2022-23 in levy schools | All students: 88%–>91%; Black students: 87%–>93% | |
| Students graduate college & career ready | Advanced course-taking (IB/AP) between 2018-19 and 2021-22 | 36%–>42% with similar increases across Black, Hispanic and ELL students | |
| Targeted, high-quality instruction (evidence-based/promising) | Partner satisfaction with DEEL systems | 98% of partners satisfied with DEEL systems | |
| Student favorability rating on perceptions of pedagogical effectiveness in levy schools between 2021-22 and 2022-23 | Elementary fell from 85% to 82% and from 86% to 81% for students of color | ||
| Students educated by a more diverse workforce | Teacher demographics | Small but clear growth in hiring of new teachers across all ethnic/racial subsets | |
| Culturally relevant practices & belonging | School climate survey in elementary schools | Slightly higher performance on culturally responsive practices in levy schools; comparable Identity & Belonging performance in levy and non-levy schools | |
| Access to expanded learning opportunities | Students served since 2019 | 49,955 students served | |
| K-12 School Health | Students are healthy and ready to learn | Health center utilization change | +15% year-over-year |
| High-quality, culturally responsive care | Family & student feedback | Qualitatively positive in family/student feedback |
Key takeaways: Postsecondary
Through Seattle Promise, many more high school graduates now view college as financially possible, and the program explicitly supports first-generation and historically underserved students. Colleges and evaluators point to encouraging signs that Promise students are persisting, transferring, and completing at strong rates compared to national peers.
Equity data do not appear to be consistently published year-over-year — especially broken out by race or income — making it difficult to fully assess whether the program is meeting its long-term justice-based goals.
| Investment Areas | Outcome | Metrics | Numeric Values |
| Seattle Promise (Postsecondary) | Postsecondary access | Promise participants | Annual FEPP target: 870; 2025 enrollment: 1,710 |
| Promise graduates since 2019 | 1,224 graduates | ||
| Persistence & completion | 3-year completion average for 2018-23 cohorts | 33% (matches national avg.) | |
| Fall-to-fall retention rate | 57% (national avg. 53%) | ||
| College readiness | First-generation students | 47% of Promise scholars | |
| UW admission (Path to UW subset) | 83% admitted | ||
| Race-based opportunity gaps are closed | Seattle Promise demographics | 69% students of color |
Room for growth
If there is one area with room to grow, it’s in clear, consistent public reporting — not because the program has failed, but because its successes and areas for growth deserve to be seen and understood in full.
We have placed extraordinary trust in this work. The next levy cycle is a chance not only to continue delivering real opportunity for students and families, but to showcase that progress openly, reinforcing confidence in a program that is already making Seattle a model of progressive education policy.
*To map the outcomes, we looked at the goals set in the FEPP Implementation & Evaluation Plan and analyzed them against a 2025 DEEL report to the City Council; a Mayor’s office blog post on SPP enrollment; a 2024 study conducted by Mathematica; an Education Northwest evaluation of SPP in 2024; and a Seattle Promise fact, impacts and successes webpage.