By Brian Eason | Colorado Sun
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ signature preschool initiative is serving thousands more families than expected in its first year, but its success has come with a costly downside: Fewer low-income children attend full-day preschool today than before the program launched.
The trade-off was laid out in stark terms during Joint Budget Committee hearings last month: The more enrollment grows for universal pre-K, the less state funding will be available for at-risk children to attend full-day preschool.
Under Colorado’s previous state-funded preschool program, which ended July 1, more than 6,000 at-risk 4-year-olds received funding for a full-day classroom slot last school year. This year, the state provided only 3,500 full-day slots to the most at-risk kids — even as funding for preschool has increased and overall enrollment exceeds expectations.
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