Ethel Seiderman is executive director of Parent Services Project in San Rafael. Web: www.parentservices.org.

WHEN I STARTED the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children's Center on Feb. 21, 1973, a dream came true.

I knew this was only the beginning and wanted to become a permanent part of the educational fabric of the district, dreaming of the day when my state and nation would invest in an appropriate child development-focused education for children, even under age five. I know that learning begins at least at birth.

Today, we believe it happens during our inter-uteral life prior to birth.

Over the years, forward-thinking educators, political leaders and the general public have seen and acknowledged how smart our youngest children are, believing we can gain the edge in creating ready learners resulting in children and families valuing knowledge and educational pursuit. This continuum between the pre-school years and the elementary school years is a must in ensuring greater success in the acquisition of literacy and an inquisitive mind.

Proposition 82, "Pre-School for All," will make this dream come true for California's children and families. We are asking that you vote for what is good for all children - giving them the opportunity to enter schools, wide-eyed and eager to learn, with a curriculum designed for their age and stage, and with talented, passionate, knowledgeable, well-educated teachers who - working with the children and families - will lift expectations so all children may excel.

This movement is being enhanced by Marin CARES, a program to encourage and facilitate greater professionalism of the early care and education field.

This is a rare chance that we will have to ensure that every child, from one background or another, from all races and nationalities, has an excellent early education.

This is the public system that is inclusive and harmonizes all that we are, where we all have come from and what we can all become. It is this system that helped shape us and to which we are devoted.

In my 43 years of being involved in early care and education in Marin and the Bay Area, I know that Marin has a history of encouraging the most excellent opportunities for our children.

People constantly ask me "What can we do for the kids?"

Here's what they can do: Look to the optimal outcome for children resulting from the passage of this initiative and vote 'yes' on Proposition 82.