Hawai'i has a proud historical and multicultural record of caring for and educating our young children. From traditional, loving ways that our communities cherished their keiki and taught them through life experiences, to our Islands' pioneering role in creating an internationally respected, universal kindergarten system long before other states, Hawai'i has long invested in our children's health and education to build a sound future for our beloved state. However, we must continue this journey now — we cannot afford to wait.

It is time for Hawai'i to take the next step forward for the sake of our children and invest in Keiki First, the quality early-learning system proposed by the Early Learning Educational Task Force. Our children need and deserve it.

Children are born with approximately 100 billion brain cells, and research shows that increasing the number of quality early-learning experiences significantly adds to more complex brain development — the foundation for lifelong learning. Moreover, 85 percent of a child's intellect, personality and social skills are developed by age 5; thus, we must give our keiki a head start in life.

Approximately 60 percent of Hawai'i's current public school kindergarteners attended some type of preschool. However, those who do not, those who are disadvantaged from the very start of their educational path, are most likely to come from rural and low-income families. Moreover, the lack of exposure to high-quality early education too often leads to powerful and negative social, academic and developmental consequences. With 51 percent of our public school students falling into one or more of three at-risk categories (low-income, English-language learners, special needs), Hawai'i faces significant challenges in ensuring these at-risk students maximize their academic opportunities for success. The 2007 Hawai'i State School Readiness Assessment shows that in more than 80 percent of our public school kindergarten classes, the majority of the students do not possess the necessary literacy skills to succeed in school (e.g., know names and sounds of more than three letters, show familiarity with how books work). Therefore, it is no surprise that only 50 percent of third-grade students in 2006 were reading at grade level.

In 2006, the Legislature recognized the direct correlation between quality early learning and school achievement by passing Act 259 to create the Early Learning Educational Task Force. The task force was asked to develop an incremental plan for a comprehensive and sustainable early-learning system that would eventually provide a continuum of learning opportunities for all children, birth through 5 years of age, starting with 4-year-olds.

The task force studied the strengths and weaknesses of several of the 40 states that have a publicly funded early-learning program, consulted with national and local experts, and proposed the creation of Keiki First. It will include parent choice of three diverse settings: center-based (traditional preschools), Family Child Interaction Learning, and Family Childcare Providers. This initiative will also significantly improve the quality of early learning programs in our state — highly educated and trained teachers, appropriate student-teacher ratios, accredited programs and curricula, expanded facilities, and family resource coordinators.

Keiki First also includes a 10-year implementation plan that will provide voluntary access to high-quality programs for 80 percent of all 4-year-olds by year 10. Perhaps most importantly, Keiki First recognizes the cultural strengths of Native Hawaiian and numerous other cultures, which give life and meaning to these islands. It will build on these strengths, honoring the students and families who live here. The long-term results will be children who are highly educated and motivated to fully participate in civic life.

We realize that there will be many other competing interests for state monies, and some may ask, "How can we afford this program?"

The real question is, "How can we not afford it?"

Leading economists such as Art Rolnick from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and Dr. James Heckman, Nobel Prize winner in economics from the University of Chicago, have shown that investment in high-quality early learning will result in considerable states' savings through lower grade retention, school dropouts, welfare and incarceration. New Jersey is one of several states that recognized the considerable benefit, when its state supreme court mandated a quality early-learning system for its at-risk school districts. Now, New Jersey is starting to reap the benefits of its investment, as it achieved a No. 2 ranking in fourth-grade reading in the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress, known also as the "nation's report card." This score improved by eight points from the 2005 NAEP, whereas the nation's and Hawai'i's averages showed a 3-point improvement. New Jersey "got it," and so must Hawai'i. Investing in quality early education is an investment that will keep on paying for years to come,

In 1943, the Territory of Hawai'i committed to a major public investment by creating a strong, full-day kindergarten in the middle of World War II, when money was extremely tight and the survival of the world as we knew it was in some doubt. Nonetheless, legislators recognized the economic and educational benefits, and they bravely stepped forward to commit Hawai'i to a universally accessible, voluntary full-day kindergarten program that we take for granted today. This public system exists side-by-side with an impressive array of faith-based and privately funded kindergartens of all sizes and shapes to meet the needs of Hawai'i's families for high-quality education.

We invite the public to examine Keiki First, discuss it, and contact their legislators. We have a rare opportunity to offer Hawai'i's children the very best start in life, following on our rich traditions to malama e na keiki. There is no better cause to support.

We can't afford to miss out on a rare chance to offer our kids the very best start in life

Dee Jay Mailer is CEO of Kamehameha Schools. Alfred L. Castle is executive director of the Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation and co-chair of the Keiki Funders’ Network. They wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.