A 10-year plan to establish a statewide early-education system may face an uphill battle in the Legislature this session, especially in light of the state's slowing economy.

A joint legislative package last week from Democratic leaders did not include the $10.4 million needed to establish the early-education program, which they say is lacking in detail.

Lawmakers are skeptical of the cost of the program, which would increase exponentially over the next 10 years to more than $170 million a year.

"I'd like to see the state make that commitment, but it's hard to make that kind of financial commitment not knowing what a lot of the parameters of the proposal are," said state Senate Majority Leader Gary Hooser, D-7th (Kaua'i, Ni'ihau).

Hooser said the Democratic leadership supports the proposal "in concept" but added that "there are just a lot of unanswered questions."

The early-education program, known as Keiki First, would be the state's first comprehensive early-education system, utilizing public and private preschool and early-learning providers. In the first years, it would focus on targeting underserved families who can't afford, or lack access to, early education. Eventually, the program would serve 80 percent of all pre-kindergarten children.

The plan was created by a legislative task force, which lawmakers established to investigate the possibility of extending early-learning opportunities to all children.

Early-childhood education advocates were disappointed that the plan didn't get an early stamp of approval, as usually signified by inclusion in the leadership's joint legislative package. But they say they will work to educate lawmakers on the vital nature of the proposal.

"If you look at the numbers, under 20 percent of our youngsters are entering kindergarten with the literacy skills to be successful. It's criminal not to do something about this. The question is, can we afford to keep waiting?" said Robert Peters, head of Hanahau'oli School and co-chairman of the early-education task force.

"We've come up with a plan that we think is very workable, a quality learning experience that will meet the needs of 80 percent of our children by the time we hit year 10," Peters said.

He said members of the task force will continue to meet with lawmakers to address concerns they may have about the plan.

While it didn't end up in the joint package, lawmakers Friday said the plan still has support.

Hooser said he supports an early-education system but the details of establishing it need to be discussed before lawmakers commit to investing in it.

Hooser pointed out that there are additional budget restrictions this year in response to slower revenue projections. He said lawmakers are being more cautious about new spending this session.

However, he said that "without question the early-childhood education proposals will still be on the table."

State Rep. Roy Takumi, D-36th (Pearl City, Momilani, Pacific Palisades), the chairman of the House education committee, said there are some questions about how the system would be governed, and how private providers could be held accountable.

"We're still going to move the measure along. The global perspective is that we know if we invest the money now, there is a 7-to-1 payback," Takumi said.

Takumi pointed out that every dollar the state spends on early education would save $7 on remedial education, dropouts and criminal costs.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.