What are your concerns about the lack of affordable, high-quality early childhood education for all children? What impact do you think this will have on a child's success in life? 

"My major concern is the number of low-income children who are not able to have the benefits of an early childhood education program. They often never catch up so they don't feel successful in school, lose confidence in themselves and lose interest in learning."

DIANNE POLASIK
St. Croix (Minn.) Education Association

"Early childhood education is the most important education reform possible. What a child learns in the first five years of life affects him or her for life. It is very difficult to overcome the disadvantages of limited vocabulary, lack of meaningful sensory experiences, negative social interactions and attention deficits caused by too much TV or video games."

MARY BIXLER
Alliance AFT/Dallas

"I have been a special educator for 31 years, the majority of these years spent working with preschool children who are developmentally delayed. I have seen firsthand the difference that early intervention makes in the quality of life for these children."

BERYL HEBERT
East Baton Rouge (La.) Federation of Teachers

"Done well, [early childhood education programs] are expensive in the short term, but a very socially and educationally sound long-term investment."

JACQUELINE DZIEDZIULA
Hamtramck (Mich.) Federation of Teachers

"Low- to middle-income families cannot afford preschool. Many in poverty are able to get free preschool, and of course the rich can afford it. What about those who don't meet income limits of Head Start but still can't afford the monthly payment?"

MARY CRUZ
AFT Hammond (Ind.)