No Jolt today. Just an Afternoon Squabble between Prop 1A and Prop 1B, the competing preschool measures. 

The Prop 1A campaign to speed up early childcare workers’ $15 minimum wage boost, implement new training standards for childcare workers, and convene a child care affordability task force to recommend policies likes to point out that several of the financial backers of the competing Prop 1B campaign to fund preschool slots for three- and four-year olds are associated with conservative causes. 

Going through the Prop 1B donor list, they note that almost 70 percent of the nearly $1 million  raised to date comes from big names like Connie Ballmer, James Sinegal, Miguel Bezos, Microsoft, Alaska Airlines, Nick Hanauer, and Bill Ruckelshaus who have also contributed to "education reform" causes like charter schools and/or given to Republicans such as former gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna, ex-U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, and the Bush/Cheney campaign.

Of course, the message is flawed right off the bat because (as we've noted before), many of these very same people have also given to Democrats and liberal causes. Hanauer, for example, is currently bankrolling the gun control measure ($1.3 million) and is arguably the leading proponent in the battle for increasing the minimum wage. (In addition to advocating for it on Mayor Ed Murray's $15 minimum wage task force, the famous class traitor also gave $25,000 to the SeaTac minimum wage campaign the year before.)

And my word, Costco co-founder James Sinegal, who the Prop 1A campaign notes as a Republican contributor (while true) is also Democratic contributing icon; 96 percent of Costco's $2.2 million in national political contributions between 1990 and 2012 have gone to help Democrats and Sinegal has hosted Obama fundraisers at his own home.

"Prop 1B runs parallel to the charter school movement in that it devalues and diminishes Seattle's diverse system of 750 existing childcare and preschool centers."—Prop 1A's Heather Weiner

Still: It's true that many of the big donors to Prop 1B have given to Republicans or charter initiatives. Hanauer, for example, bankrolled 2012's charter initiative, too.

Prop 1A spokeswomen Heather Weiner wouldn't go as far as to say Prop 1B is a charter schools measure in disguise, but told PubliCola: "Prop 1B runs parallel to the charter school movement in that it devalues and diminishes Seattle's diverse system of 750 existing childcare and preschool centers. We should be investing in stabilizing and improving the centers already serving 20,000 young children rather than spending $58 million on a new, top-down system for just 2,000 kids." 

Spokesman for Prop 1B Sandeep Kaushik [full disclosure, Kaushik helped co-found PubliCola in 2009, but has no relationship to the site anymore] says Weiner's attempt to tar the preschool measure with a Scarlet C is farfetched.

"Prop 1B strengthens and expands public involvement in preschool instruction for three and four year-old kids in Seattle compared to the current privatized system."—Prop. 1B's Sandeep Kaushik

 "There is no existing public preschool system in Seattle, so the new preschool program would not be competing with or potentially drawing resources away from an existing system of public instruction, which is the core of the criticism of charter schools. Rather, Prop 1B does the opposite. It strengthens and expands public involvement in preschool instruction for three and four year-old kids in Seattle compared to the current privatized system.

"Under the current private system of childcare, quality varies widely and access to a high-quality preschool environment is largely limited to children in better-off families who can afford to pay for it. That is a clear problem, and the Seattle Preschool Program is geared to improving the existing system by creating more opportunities for high quality preschool."

As for Prop 1A's contributors, 100 percent of the $1.4 million raised comes from two unions, SEIU and AFT, which represent childcare workers and teachers. SEIU 925 and AFT Washington are running the campaign.

Prop 1A creates a City of Seattle Early Care and Education Workforce Board that will oversee early learning investment and policy—and the measure give the childcare union control over 50 percent of the board membership. 

Weiner acknowledges that "the most likely qualifying organization in Seattle would be Kids First, an early educator membership group funded by AFT and SEIU." But adds: "Down the road, if Kids First wasn't doing a good job, preschool teachers or another group could meet the Prop 1A standards and apply for the contract with the city."

[Editor's note: Publicola has endorsed Prop 1B over Prop 1A.]