PRESCHOOL can be a place where young children learn, make friends, and develop the skills they'll need to be ready for school.

But according to a recent survey, Massachusetts parents are not getting the quality they would like. The Legislature is offering help, voting $4.6 million on Friday to run pilot programs, preparatory to a universal preschool system, which would be available to all interested families.

Preschool is a running start and an inoculation against harm. High quality programs can improve test scores, social skills, and future earnings, while protecting students against having to repeat grades, enrolling in special education, and getting involved in crime, according to W. Steven Barnett, director of the National Institute for Early Education Research. The promise is that these programs will save future costs for remediation and law enforcement.

Many states have preschool, but only three states have universal programs. Georgia started its program in 1993, using lottery funds. In 1998, Oklahoma set up its program. Most children are served in public schools, and money comes through the state's education funding formula. And last year, Florida took the plunge, using state funds. The three states serve 4-year-olds.

Massachusetts should join these pioneers. The $4.6 million appropriation, which originated in the House, is a key step. The money would fund programs and be targeted to communities with underperforming school districts and where children have low MCAS scores. It would allow officials to estimate the cost of programs that would meet the state's educational standards.

The preschool initiative would build on the state's mixed delivery system so that parents would have a choice about where to send their children that would include, schools, centers, and Head Start programs.

The demand: 81 percent of parents say they would be interested in a free preschool program, according to a statewide survey of 585 parents conducted for the non profit organization Strategies for Children. Currently 92 percent of children under 6 receive care from someone other than a parent. But quality varies. And African-American and Hispanic parents were more likely to say the programs they used did not meet their expectations.

Universal preschool would fill this gap and help children at all income levels and in every part of the state.

Governor Romney should approve this funding for steady growth in the state's commitment to early childhood education, so that children can expect the early success that is a foundation for progress.