If politics was just a popularity contest, full-day kindergarten wouldn’t have to worry about gunning for Miss Congeniality.

More than 20 people, including teachers, school administrators, business leaders and a handful of parents, spoke in favor of Colorado’s House Bill 1262 at the House Education Committee on Tuesday afternoon. No one spoke against the bill, which would require the state to fund full-day kindergarten.

The committee unanimously voted to advance the bill, with one technical amendment, on to the House Appropriations Committee following its first public airing. Gov. Jared Polis has made funding full-day kindergarten a pillar of his agenda, and the Joint Budget Committee has included the funding in next year’s tentative budget.

Under the current system, Colorado funds kindergarten students at 58 percent of the rate the state pays for older students. Districts can offer half-day kindergarten or make up the difference by charging tuition or dipping into other funds.

If the bill passes and is signed by the governor, Colorado’s school districts would be forbidden to charge tuition for full-day kindergarten.

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Ruby Cardenas, a mother of three children in Denver, said eliminating tuition would make her budget easier to balance. She said she struggled to pay her daughter’s $500 monthly kindergarten tuition after a series of family emergencies last year, and considered pulling her from her class.

“Nobody should go through the emotions I went through,” she said.

Most of the speakers focused on research showing better academic results when children go to kindergarten full-time.

Kevin Aten, superintendent of the Bayfield School District, spoke to the committee via video chat. He said research has shown that full-day kindergarten leads to better outcomes for children, especially for boys whose summer birthdays place them at the younger end of the class.

“If you want to increase graduation rates, all those foundational skills … begin in kindergarten,” he said.

Gina Preszler, a kindergarten teacher in Durango, said full-day classes offer an “unhurried” setting to catch up children who are behind their peers, such as those who are learning English and those whose parents can’t afford intellectually stimulating child care arrangements

“I feel like funding full-day kindergarten is an intervention,” she said.

Mike Ferrufino, president and CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Metro Denver, said funding full-day kindergarten would contribute toward closing Colorado’s achievement gap between Hispanic and white students, and would make it easier for businesses to find educated workers in the future.

“Let’s make the right decision and investment for the future of Colorado,” he said.

Questions from lawmakers largely focused on whether parents still could choose to send their children to half-day kindergarten and if some districts would benefit more than others. The bill doesn’t require schools to offer full-day kindergarten or children to attend it.

Steve Durham, vice chair of the Colorado State Board of Education, said different results are to be expected in an ad-hoc system like the one Colorado has for kindergarten, but the board doesn’t foresee any districts being harmed.

“Usually when you have disparate results, someone loses,” he said. “With this bill, no district loses and no parent loses.”

Rep. Colin Larson, a Republican representing Jefferson County, expressed more reservations than the other committee members. He said that fully funding kindergarten would raise the state’s base cost for education, requiring the state to cut a deeper percentage of education funding during the next economic downturn.

“When the inevitable recession does come back, my concern is this is going to exacerbate the hit,” he said. “The action we take today may tie our hands.”

Still, Larson voted to pass on the bill, saying he was persuaded by testimony that it would improve Colorado’s overall education system.

“Here’s to hoping it pays off,” he said.