This is the latest in a series of "Voices of Education" articles prepared by various education professionals in Hawai'i who hope to drive the conversation on education reform. Contributors to this series include preschool-through-college educators who seek to identify areas of consensus within the profession and then to inform policymakers on their ideas. For more information online, go to: www.hawaii.edu/voice.

It is now a commonly accepted fact that the most important learning period in life is from birth to age 5.

That's why children who receive a quality preschool experience almost always do better in school than children who don't go to preschool. If children do not enter school ready to learn, they are already behind and almost never catch up.

Unfortunately, a recent assessment by local kindergarten teachers showed that about half of Hawai'i's children are not prepared to learn when they start kindergarten.

Gov. Linda Lingle and the state Legislature have developed plans to expand preschool subsidies and other existing resources for early education so that more children will enter kindergarten ready to learn.

These are very noteworthy efforts — but there is an "elephant in the room" that needs attention before Hawai'i can enjoy a world-class early-education system. That elephant is the critical lack of teachers who are trained in early education.

The primary reason Hawai'i cannot attract and retain early- education teachers is low wages. Ironically, while we recognize the importance of early education, we have not matched that importance with appropriate wages.

Those of us who run preschool programs are confronted daily with the challenge of finding qualified teachers. The sad truth is that even qualified individuals can make more money waiting on tables than they can teaching preschool.

Seagull Schools — along with the 32 other Childcare Business Coalition members around the Islands — is full, with long wait lists for enrollment. As we look for ways to meet the increased demand for childcare, our biggest issue is finding qualified teachers.

Recently one of Hawai'i's top preschool providers, Kama'aina Kids, was thwarted in its attempt to open a new childcare center on Maui because there were no applicants to fill the teaching positions. Seagull Schools is planning to open three new centers next year on O'ahu. And as we get closer to the opening date, I am concerned about where we will find new teachers.

I believe that if the residents of our state were asked to rank priorities of their government's responsibilities, they would put education near the top. Since we know that early education gives us the greatest return on our education dollars, it is logical to conclude that we can't afford not to pay more for well qualified early-childhood teachers.

Kamehameha Schools is probably the best example of what an early-education system should be like. The single largest provider of privately funded preschools in the state, Kamehameha pays its preschool teachers the same as their K-12 teachers. It also provides tuition assistance for children to attend other high-quality preschools.

The state government has long provided generous childcare subsidies for low- and moderate-income families, and is developing plans to provide quality incentives for centers that meet higher educational standards. Alu Like also provides financial assistance for eligible children, but at a higher rate that even differentiates for the higher cost for infants and toddlers.

The state Department of Education is doing an inventory of its facilities to find unused or underutilized classrooms that can be used as preschool classrooms by private providers. Higher standards for teacher qualifications are also being put in place. The National Association for the Education of Young Children is raising the educational accreditation requirements for early-childhood programs, including teacher qualifications, and the state government is creating financial incentives for preschools that voluntarily implement higher quality standards.

The next steps are big ones. We need to find a way to increase wages so they are on a par with those of public school teachers. And we need to develop a training system that meets the needs of the current and future early-education system.

Public-private partnerships are being implemented in several other states, and many of the basic components for a similar early-education system in Hawai'i are already in place. A sliding fee scale based on the full cost of quality preschool programs — and funded by the state — is an example of a funding strategy that would take advantage of existing resources and have the efficiency of working through the private sector.

Community colleges need to provide advance-placement college credit courses to high school students to help them choose a career path in early education. Programs also could be created that would allow assistant early-education teachers to be paid while they continue their education. Finally, college courses need to meet teacher's working schedules, and new training strategies — such as online courses — need to be developed to make it easier for working teachers to become proficient in early-childhood education.

None of this will come cheap, but if our government leaders can raise the billions of dollars necessary to build a rail system that will have questionable benefits, then it should be able to raise the money to fund an early-education system with proven benefits.

If kids aren't ready to learn when they enter kindergarten, then they are doomed to trying to catch up in a remedial system. I want Hawai'i to be known as the education state, and our best bet is to put our money in early education and in the teachers of our youngest students.

Chuck Larson is director of Seagull Schools and lives in Waimanalo.