If you had a teacher at a very young age who stimulated your imagination, taught you to love storybooks and made going to school the most wonderful part of life, you probably never forgot that experience.

And it might have carried you for years through school, propelling you on to college and into a life of learning and growing.

The Early Education for All Campaign, an unusually broad coalition of the state's leading businesses, educators, unions and private foundations, has been working for several years to bring universal, quality early education programs for the state's 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds.

The campaign leans on solid research that more brain development occurs in the first five years of a person's life than in any other period.

Campaign leaders also know that more than 90 percent of young children in Massachusetts are enrolled in some type of day care or early education. But there is no guarantee of the quality.
In the upcoming legislative session, the campaign and its allies, including state Rep. Patricia A. Haddad, D-Somerset, chairman of the Education Committee, will push for a bill to grant $100 million to begin early education that meets new high-quality standards for a sizeable share of the state's 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds.

These early education programs must have a teacher with a bachelor's degree and the program must comply with other standards. State funds for early education will be provided to public, private and religious-affiliated providers who meet the standards.

An economist has estimated it would cost the state $600 million a year to provide universal early education, the ultimate goal of the campaign. But its backers, in their wisdom, plan to start with a smaller step. The $100 million will allow the state to offer quality early education to children from low income families, a group that is most under served.

Studies have shown that every taxpayer dollar invested in early education produces a 16 percent return as these young people are more likely to complete high school, stay out of prison, attend college and go on to be contributing members of society.

There is another reason for Massachusetts to make this investment. The state has a declining population of young families with children. The lack of affordable housing and higher cost of living is convincing too many young families to move south and west. To make Massachusetts more attractive to young working families, an essential part of a healthy economy and public life, the commonwealth needs to invest in quality early education.

Our competitors to the south, including Florida and Georgia, have already established universal early education. And 17 other states are making rapid strides to follow suit.

It will not be easy to come up with $100 million in the state's annual budget, let alone the estimated $600 million needed for a universal program. But the future of the state depends on wise investments in education. That is why so many businesses have joined the campaign and are among the strongest advocates. It must remain a top priority in 2007.