A lawyer for the state of Colorado argued in court Tuesday that a lawsuit filed by six school districts and other education groups over the state’s new universal preschool program should be dismissed because the plaintiffs don’t have legal grounds to sue.

The six districts, which allege in their lawsuit that the state’s new program broke funding promises and harmed preschoolers with disabilities, argued that they do have grounds to sue.

The lawsuit is one of three the state is facing over its new $322 million universal preschool program, which launched in August and offers free preschool to 4-year-olds statewide. A dismissal in the school district case would be a win for Gov. Jared Polis, who’s championed universal preschool since he hit the campaign trail in 2018.

The other two lawsuits were brought against the state last year by faith-based preschools and have not yet been decided. In one of them, a Christian preschool in Chaffee County alleged that a non-discrimination agreement that the state requires preschool providers to accept would prevent it from operating in accordance with its religious beliefs. Two Catholic parishes that operate preschools filed a similar suit.

Read more at Chalkbeat Colorado.

Chalkbeat Colorado is a nonprofit news organization covering education issues. For more, visit chalkbeat.org/co.

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