Learning, early and often

SURROUNDED by smiling children, Governor Patrick signed a bill last month that cements the state's commitment to building a universal preschool program.

It's an exciting step. Preschool programs may seem like they're all fun and games, but in a good program, all that cutting, gluing, and block-building can help children build strong skills, preparing them to thrive in school and life. Down the road, the state could save money on expensive social costs such as remedial education and incarceration.

But to reap these benefits, Massachusetts needs to build a first-class preschool system, ultimately investing an estimated $600 million to unleash preschool's power.

Quality matters
Reaching for excellence in the system is more than a matter of state pride. Children are likely to get the most benefit from the strongest programs - that is, the ones with accreditation, college-educated teachers, and actively engaged children and parents.

"How do we get to that place of excellence for all children?" muses Sharon Scott-Chandler, chairwoman of the board of the state's Department of Early Education and Care. Chandler says it means giving children everything they need to learn, from cognitive skills to healthcare. She says the board will focus on defining and improving quality in the coming year.

Taking first steps, the state's Department of Early Education and Care has already awarded $11.6 million in grants over the last few years to fund universal preschool pilot programs. The goal is to promote school readiness and study what it would take to implement a statewide system.

"Families noticed a huge difference," says Rosemarie Franchi, director of the Worcester Child Development Head Start Program, which is part of the Worcester Public Schools and has received some $300,000 in grants. The money paid in part for a longer preschool day and year, a boon for working parents. And because teachers who worked these longer days earned more money, Franchi says that the rate of staff turnover fell from between 30 and 40 percent down to about 5 percent.

In Boston, at programs run by Associated Early Care and Education, a local nonprofit, two years of grants, some $376,000, paid for higher incomes for teachers and for substitutes who covered classes while teachers took college courses. The grants also paid for mental health services for children, a crucial piece of the nonprofit's commitment to help every child succeed.

Beyond pilot programs
These grants, however, only went to programs that already had the capacity to grow and innovate - and not even to all of them because of funding limits.

Now Massachusetts needs ways to help more strong programs - as well as programs with fewer resources and more challenges - achieve excellence. Because when the program is fully implemented, the early education department estimates that 255,000 children who are at least two years and nine months old could be eligible to enroll. Details have yet to be worked out, but like today, some parents would probably pay a fee and others would get a subsidy.

Grants can help weaker programs. But they also need hands-on guidance to develop their programs, teaching, and administrative capacity. One example of such assistance is the North Carolina Partnership for Children, a nonprofit organization that was created in 1993 to oversee that state's early childhood efforts. The partnership's work includes funding technical assistance and training for child care providers.

But before Massachusetts can innovate, it has to finish its search for a new early education commissioner. An ideal candidate would be both visionary and practical, able to implement great change, inspire early educations, and navigate the sometimes rough seas of state politics.

The commissioner has to be an advocate for programs that start at birth as well as for public school excellence, ensuring that all the state's preschoolers move on to strong K-12 settings.

The commissioner should also encourage the state's colleges and universities to expand efforts to help early education teachers and providers start and finish college. That could mean more English classes for providers who need it, or help getting though math and science courses that can seem intimidating. And more college courses should be offered at preschool workshops to make attendance even easier.

Now that Massachusetts has a new preschool law, it needs new funding and action to help young children excel early so that they're equipped for lifelong success.