by State Sen. Steve Litzow and State Rep. Ruth Kagi

Half of Washington’s children are set up to fail.

On the first day of kindergarten, they’re behind on math and language and don’t have the social and emotional skills to succeed.

These kids are starting a lifelong race 20 yards behind. Most never catch up.

If you’re a mom or dad, a business owner or a taxpayer, you should care.

Because when children fail, we all pay the price.

Children who drop out of school, do drugs and end up in a life of crime cost taxpayers, on average, $2.5 million each.

That money could be spent making college affordable or fixing our schools. It’s as simple as pay now, or pay a lot more later.

The good news is, we have a solution: high-quality early learning.

Research shows that children who participate in high- quality early learning have lower rates of: special education placement, grade repetition, obesity and teen pregnancy, abuse and neglect and juvenile detention. They also have higher test scores and higher rates of high school graduation.

Scientists say 92 percent of a child’s brain is developed by age five, before he or she sets foot in a kindergarten classroom.

Washington has an ethical imperative to prepare all students to compete in the 21st-century job market and fully participate in democracy. With the legislature under a constitutional obligation to fully fund K-12 education, we cannot ignore highly effective programs that move children toward higher student achievement. Because we take our duty to the entire educational continuum – early learning, K-12 and higher education — so seriously, we must invest in both high-quality early learning and our K-12 schools.

If we continue adding billions more dollars into our K-12 system without ensuring our children are ready to learn when they arrive, everyone loses. We’ll have a very expensive K-12 system and still over half our children will be set up to fail.

We have an obligation to ensure that every child – even children who are victims of abuse, neglect or poverty – has the opportunity to succeed.

That’s why we sponsored the bipartisan Early Start Act, a comprehensive childcare and early learning quality improvement plan.

Early learning helps kids be ready on that first day of kindergarten and puts them on a path to success.

Lawmakers also have an obligation to taxpayers. We know every tax dollar must be spent as wisely as possible.

And early learning has the highest return on investment of any education – between $4 and $17 back for every dollar spent. Yet, our state currently spends less than one cent of every tax dollar received on early learning.

Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”  If we want different results, we must change our spending. We must invest in high quality early learning.

If world-class brain research and many economic studies do not convince you, consider the real-world experience of those who see the need firsthand. Law enforcement, the business community and military leaders agree that investing in high-quality childcare and early learning is the most effective step we can take to prevent crime, ensure a thriving economy and protect our national security.

This year’s passage of the Early Start Act along with a new budget that adds $159 million for early learning and care with 1,600 more slots for the state’s Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program – the largest early learning increase in state history – will bring the high-quality programs that we know work, to all of Washington’s childcare centers and preschools.

A strong start for children leads to more successful schools, stronger families, more self-reliant adults and safer communities.

Sen. Steve Litzow of Mercer Island serves as chair of the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Education Committee. He represents the 41st District, which includes part of Renton. Rep. Ruth Kagi of Seattle chairs the House Early Learning and Human Services Committee.