COLORADO — For the third year in a row, Colorado is postponing quality standards for Universal Preschool (UPK).
The program gives four year olds in Colorado at least 15 hours per week of free preschool. As part of that, the state was supposed to require schools to have quality standards, which include the following:
- a 20 student cap on class sizes
- certain curriculum requirements
- additional teacher training
Those rules were initially supposed to take effect when the program launched in the summer of 2023, but amid challenges with the rollout, they were pushed back to 2024, then to 2025.
Chalkbeat Colorado is now reporting a state advisory committee voted to postpone the requirement again until July, 2026. They report the state is behind on some key tasks that are necessary to put the rules in place.
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A historic fire and a glimmer of hope for evacuees
The Aspen Acres Fire has grown to become the seventh-largest fire in Colorado history, but there's finally some good news. Some mandatory evacuations have been downgraded, giving hope to residents who have been out of their homes for more than a week.
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