“With so much discussion and debate going on about how to improve our nation’s schools, we must also be thinking of smart, proven ways to invest in children’s development that are more than just corrective steps. And nowhere can we make a smarter investment than in the earliest years – birth to age 5, before children enter the K-12 system – so that children are primed and ready to succeed the moment they set foot in a kindergarten classroom. Parents, business leaders and elected officials are galvanizing around the notion that investments in high-quality early childhood education are a proven means of setting children on the right academic and developmental path, and also a smart financial investment.”

“Early Childhood Education Is Critical for our Own Kids’ Future — and the Nation’s,” a Huffington Post blog by Kris Perry, executive director of the First Five Years Fund, March 18, 2015