Claire Withycombe

Olympia

State Government Reporter at Seattle Times

State government reporter at the Seattle Times call/text/Signal 503-910-3821 [email protected] secure email: [email protected]

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Articles

Central WA Head Start classes resume under cloud of doubt

2 days ago | seattletimes.com | Claire Withycombe

Education Lab is a Seattle Times project that spotlights promising approaches to persistent challenges in public education. The Seattle Foundation serves as the fiscal sponsor for Education Lab, which is supported by grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Ballmer Group. Learn more about Ed Lab. SUNNYSIDE, Yakima County — It was back to breakfast, books and play Monday morning at four Head Start classrooms in Sunnyside after an abrupt closure due to a lack of federal funds.
Reabrirán clases de Head Start en el valle de Yakima tras cierre repentino

5 days ago | elsoldeyakima.com | Claire Withycombe

Más de 400 niños pueden regresar a sus aulas en Head Start en el valle bajo de Yakima luego que se notificó a los Centros de Desarrollo Inspire que recibirían sus fondos federales. Inspire despidió a 72 empleados a partir del cierre el martes y cerró más de una docena de aulas de Head Start en el área de Sunnyside porque no tenía suficiente dinero para continuar sus servicios.
Yakima Valley Head Start classes to reopen after sudden shutdown

6 days ago | yakimaherald.com | Claire Withycombe

More than 400 children can return to their Head Start classrooms in the Lower Yakima Valley after Inspire Development Centers was notified Friday that it would get its federal funding. Inspire had laid off 72 employees, effective at the close of business Tuesday, and shuttered more than a dozen Head Start classrooms in the Sunnyside area because it did not have enough money to continue operating them.
Claire Withycombe: WA Head Start staff locked out and let go due to Trump cuts

3 weeks ago | theolympian.com | Claire Withycombe

The Seattle Office of Head Start has been closed and all employees there have been placed on leave and notified they'll be terminated, part of a massive wave of layoffs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Seattle is home to the Region 10 Office of Head Start, which oversees the preschool program in Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Oregon. Head Start is a federally funded preschool program for low-income children and families, which was established in the 1960s.
WA Head Start staff locked out and let go due to Trump cuts

3 weeks ago | seattletimes.com | Claire Withycombe

Education Lab is a Seattle Times project that spotlights promising approaches to persistent challenges in public education. The Seattle Foundation serves as the fiscal sponsor for Education Lab, which is supported by grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Ballmer Group. Learn more about Ed Lab.
WA officials challenge Education Department firings

1 month ago | seattletimes.com | Claire Withycombe

Education Lab is a Seattle Times project that spotlights promising approaches to persistent challenges in public education. The Seattle Foundation serves as the fiscal sponsor for Education Lab, which is supported by grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Ballmer Group. Learn more about Ed Lab.
University of Washington braces for Trump budget cuts, starts hiring freeze

1 month ago | seattletimes.com | Claire Withycombe

The University of Washington will freeze hiring of non-essential staff and faculty and take other steps to cut costs amid uncertainty about state and federal funding. While the university’s financial position is good, “unprecedented and rapid policy changes at the federal level” have upped the risk of funding cuts, Tricia Serio, UW provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, wrote in a blog post dated March 9.
Murray: Trump, Musk have made child care crisis worse

1 month ago | columbian.com | Claire Withycombe

Tuesday, March 4 , 2025 U.S. Sen. Patty Murray says the spate of recent firings at the U.S. Administration for Children and Families has intensified the nation’s child care crisis. About 20% of workers at the Office of Head Start and about 25% of workers at the Office of Child Care, both housed within ACF, have reportedly been fired, part of the wave of federal layoffs engineered by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. “Despite the president’s grand campaign promises to...
Murray: Trump, Musk have made child care crisis worse

1 month ago | spokesman.com | Claire Withycombe

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray says the spate of recent firings at the U.S. Administration for Children and Families has intensified the nation’s child care crisis. About 20% of workers at the Office of Head Start and about 25% of workers at the Office of Child Care, both housed within ACF, have reportedly been fired, part of the wave of federal layoffs engineered by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency.
Murray: Trump, Musk have made child care crisis worse

1 month ago | seattletimes.com | Claire Withycombe

Education Lab is a Seattle Times project that spotlights promising approaches to persistent challenges in public education. The Seattle Foundation serves as the fiscal sponsor for Education Lab, which is supported by grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Ballmer Group. Learn more about Ed Lab. U.S. Sen. Patty Murray says the spate of recent firings at the U.S. Administration for Children and Families has intensified the nation’s child care crisis.