The highest priority in education should be preparing very young children from poor families for school. Achievement gaps emerge as early as age 3 and persist throughout the school years. Although improvement is needed at every level of schooling, improving preschool programs is more effective than virtually any other intervention.

Effective preschool programs have proven to boost test scores, help children perform at grade level and avoid special education, increase high school graduation rates, and produce better economic and social outcomes in the adult years.

From preschool to college, the educational process reinforces preexisting differences between groups defined by race and socioeconomic status. My top priorities in education are to:

• Invest in high quality early childhood education.

• Provide intensive, high-quality preschool for all children in families who fall below the poverty line.

• Simulate a preschool program modeled on the successful Abecedarian Project in North Carolina.

• Subsidize childcare for low-wage workers.