Sound Off: Head Start in the summer offers credits and confidence

This is about more than college readiness. It’s about economic resilience.

A student once told me, “Running Start saved my family.” As chair of the House Postsecondary Education & Workforce Committee, I carry that story with me every day. Because it isn’t just one story, it’s thousands.

Students who seize the chance to take college-level classes in high school. Students who earn a high school diploma and a college degree at the same time. Students who go from unsure to unstoppable.

That’s the power of Running Start. And now, we’ve made it even stronger.

Running Start has helped students across Washington since 1990. But for years, it wasn’t available during the summer, when students had the time, drive and need. That changed with HB 1316, which I sponsored to expand Running Start into the summer. More than 7,000 students took advantage of this flexibility last year alone.

They took English to fulfill graduation requirements and explored new career interests. They pushed through tough courses like calculus or technical writing, one class at a time.

And now, we’re taking the next step. Because access isn’t just about availability — it’s about affordability.

We passed HB 1273, improving how students earn and apply Career and Technical Education (CTE) dual credits. These courses connect students directly to jobs and credentials, but too many weren’t getting credit for the work they’d done. That changes now. The bill streamlines access and requires our agencies to make it easier to apply CTE credits toward college or certification.

This is about more than college readiness. It’s about economic resilience.

We’re not just preparing students for degrees; we’re preparing them for careers, for the skilled trades, for leadership, and for life. And we’re doing it with a system that listens to their needs and meets them where they are.

That means breaking down historic inequities, too.

For too long, Running Start has been disproportionately accessed by middle- and upper-income families who already knew how to navigate the system. That’s not justice. That’s a gap we must close. That’s why HB 1316 also requires every public school to notify students and families of all dual-credit opportunities because opportunity only works when people know it exists.

Running Start is no longer just a program. It’s a lifeline. A launchpad. A promise.

Every credit is time saved. Every course is money kept in a family’s pocket. Every student empowered is a future changed.

That’s why I fight for this work. Because when we invest in students, we invest in Washington’s future. One where every student has a pathway to success and every community has the tools to thrive.

Because Summer Running Start is such a new program, many families — and even high school counselors — don’t know how to enroll. You can learn more at the website, ospi.k12.wa.us.

Rep. Dave Paul and his family live in Oak Harbor. He is chair of the House Postsecondary Education & Workforce Committee and co-chair of the bipartisan Ferry Caucus.