In recent weeks, the focus of proposed state cuts in education has been at the higher education level.

State education leaders have lamented major budget cuts to universities, community and technical colleges, which are raising tuition and increasing the enrollment of more out-of-state residents. Colleges statewide are facing program cuts, to possible campus closings as reductions in state funding looms.

We have seen this in Kirkland as Lake Washington Technical College (LWTC) officials have recently scrambled to make up for the roughly 20 percent state funding shortfall they project in 2011-12. LWTC officials are looking at a $2.2-$3 million gap.

But we have also seen that budget impacts trickle down to even our littlest learners.

In the past several weeks, we have reported on several preschools here in Kirkland that have been affected by state budget cuts.

We published a story last week that focused on the Kirkland Co-Op Preschool (KCP) and the Lake Washington Toddler Group (LWTG). The cooperatives, which are part of the Parent Education program at LWTC, offer parents the opportunity to learn alongside their children. One of the enrollment requirements is that parents volunteer and participate in class as well. Students learn how to be better parents and receive credit for their time with the preschool groups.

But state level budget cuts have threatened the parenting program, which encompasses seven area preschool cooperatives.

The proposal to cut the parenting program would save LWTC about $300,000. Doug Emory, dean of academic core, called it a “massive” cut. We agree.

It would impact hundreds of families in the area, potentially increasing tuition for parents already struggling to pay for their child’s preschool education. The cuts would also affect children, as parents learn valuable information from the program’s lectures and labs, from discipline to nutrition. The lab gives parents the opportunity to work and play with the children, an opportunity that would be lost without the program.

Emory said LWTC’s executive cabinet approved a plan this week that would allow the college to continue being involved in a “significant way” in the community through the parent education program. He said the college hasn’t worked out all the details yet of how it will support the program, but we hope the plan will allow parents and children to get the most out of the parenting program.

We also reported on the “Little Roos” preschool at Lake Washington High School, which closed its doors last month after 25 years in the community. The Lake Washington School District couldn’t keep the program running as it would have cost the district – already impacted by state budget cuts – about $1 million.

The preschool program was linked with the high school’s “life skills” child psychology elective. It’s another opportunity lost for high school students to connect with their younger counterparts.

We can sit and wait for the state to provide more funding so that it reaches all education levels, but plan to wait a long time. Yes, it’s a bleak future, but that doesn’t mean nothing can be done.

In this week’s story on the Kirkland Preschool, two families show how the community can come up with creative ways to solve funding problems at the preschool level. The families pitched in to purchase the preschool’s current site, and offered the preschool a 10-year lease at an affordable rate.

While it may be difficult for many to purchase an entire plot of land, think of the potential if several families came together to find a way. The Kirkland Preschool families did, and it has paid off in a decade of continued learning for Kirkland children.