These regulations are supposed to cut red tape but instead it looks like they are adding more than they have cut. These standards keep it too hard to hire and onboard staff. Higher education is not necessary to be a great childcare provider. The state keeps saying that "the data" shows that having a bachelor's degree is better, but centers with highly educated staff are more expensive and cater to well-off families whose kids have fewer risk factors and adverse childhood experiences. States that have these requirements have much higher costs for childcare - and the more education required, the higher the costs.

Requiring approved plans for all special needs kids, twice a year conferences for every child, and tons of written policies (even if they don't make sense for your center) are going to raise costs a lot especially for smaller independent centers.

Separating twos from preschoolers is arbitrary and isn't possible for a lot of programs. We are probably going to have to stop enrolling two year olds because we would have to increase staffing to keep them separate.

If these changes are based on data, you should publish the data and the studies backing up these conclusions. Our experience doesn't match these conclusions, and I think there is a lot of junk science and unfounded assumptions from policy people who don't actually work hands-on with kids in a group setting. If you are going to make policies based on data, you have to be certain that you are measuring what you think you are. With kids and families, there are too many confounding variables.