Colorado’s universal preschool standards set low bar, experts say

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters

Colorado’s proposed rules on preschool quality set a low bar, could hurt kids, and threaten to leave the state with one of the nation’s weakest public preschool programs, some experts say. 

The draft standards say class sizes will be governed by current licensing rules, which means preschools can have up to 24 4–year-olds in each classroom. The standards also don’t address what degrees or credentials teachers must have. These are among the red flags cited by leaders at the National Institute for Early Education Research, who reviewed the draft rules at Chalkbeat’s request. 

“It’s very difficult once you create a low-quality system to work your way out…