April 6-12, 2003, marks the 32nd annual celebration of the Week of the Young Child. With all of the challenges facing our nation today, from the war on terrorism to the state of the economy, it is more essential than ever that we establish a prosperous future for our children and for Massachusetts. The Week of the Young Child reminds us that there is no better investment we can make than investing in our young children and their early education.

Too many children on the North Shore - as across our state - show up on the first day of kindergarten or first grade (school is not mandatory until age 6 in Massachusetts) without the skills necessary to succeed. Once behind they often never catch up. Also today more than 30 percent of Massachusetts third-graders do not meet the state standards for reading proficiency on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) and one in six of our children receive special education services.

Scientific evidence proves that children who participate in high-quality early childhood education programs arrive at school with better language skills and get along better with their peers. They are 40 percent less likely to need special education or be held back a grade. They are 30 percent more likely to graduate from high school and more than twice as likely to go to college. Research also demonstrates that every dollar invested in a child's early education can return more than $7 to society in increased earnings for participants and reduced costs for special education, welfare dependency and crime.

Massachusetts' economy - like that of other states across the country - relies on an educated and skilled workforce. Improving our public schools and developing this workforce will depend on making substantial improvements in the learning opportunities we provide our young children. As Nobel-prize winning economist James J. Heckman recently wrote, high-quality early education gives children the "advantage of an early start to their skill development, improving their chances of successfully participating in the job market in later years."

In December 2002, I - along with my colleague Rep. Peter Larkin and 108 other legislators - filed a legislative proposal calling for voluntary high-quality early education for every 3-, 4-, and 5-year old in Massachusetts, to be phased in over 10 years. This proposal was developed by the Early Education for All Campaign, a coalition of leaders from business, labor, religion, education, health care, philanthropy, and early education and care, along with thousands of parents and advocates across the commonwealth. This diverse group of leaders is united in the conviction that early childhood education must be a top public policy priority to ensure the economic viability of our state.

Since the enactment of Education Reform in 1993, Massachusetts has made a lot of progress in helping children reach their education potential. Work to create this plan began in the late 1980s, at a time when the state's fiscal situation was- like today - dismal. Still, business leaders and public and private sector visionaries came together to plan for improving the education system. We must similarly take advantage of our opportunity now and plan wisely to address this unfinished element of education reform: early childhood education.

If we truly care about our children and about the vitality of our state, we can no longer afford to ignore the benefits of investing in young children and their early education. By raising awareness during this Week of the Young Child, we are starting down the vital path to ensuring that each and every child experiences the type of early learning environment - at home, in the classroom and in the community - that will promote their success in school and in life.