Just a few weeks ago, UC Merced's graduating class of 2009 cheered as first lady Michelle Obama congratulated them and encouraged them to "be the realization of our dreams and the hope for the next generation."

It was a proud moment for Merced County and the San Joaquin Valley, and a time to reflect on what we can do to ensure more students reach graduation day.

A new report by the RAND Corp., a nonprofit institution whose mission is to help improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis, confirms that we must start early to ensure that children have the opportunity to graduate from college and go on to successful careers.
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RAND's California Preschool Study has important implications for corporations and higher education, particularly as people search for ways to turn around the economic crisis.

RAND's study finds that too many children are entering school without the basic early reading and social skills that prepare them to learn and succeed.

By third grade, almost two-thirds of children are not proficient in English language arts and 42 percent are not proficient in math.

That gap is even larger for low-income, Latino and black children, and English learners, and this "readiness gap" is evident by the first day children enter kindergarten, RAND finds.

UC Merced and AT&T, two of Merced County's largest employers, would benefit from a pool of employees who have had access to the foundation for learning that high-quality early childhood education provides.

The good news is that high-quality preschools can help bridge the readiness gap and prepare children for school and work place success.

In fact, high-quality preschools build those very skills -- early literacy and higher-order thinking -- that are critical to education and preparing an effective work force.

Longitudinal research shows that high-quality early learning programs can increase high school graduation rates by 20 percentage points and also boost college graduation rates.

Quality early learning programs provide a $7 to $17 return on investment in the form of reduced spending on remedial education, public assistance and crime, and increased tax revenues.

The bad news is that California's early childhood education system is complex, fragmented, underfunded and unable to serve the kids who need it most. Only about half of low-income children are in preschool, compared to 80 percent of children whose families make more than $100,000, according to RAND.

We are convinced that as we increase access to high-quality preschool, businesses -- and our economy -- will benefit from a more skilled, educated work force that is prepared to compete in the global marketplace.

Our Valley needs to attract more sustainable industry. We have both seen how a good education promotes innovation -- a critical element of AT&T's success, and a primary mission of UC Merced.

We have also seen firsthand what a high-quality preschool experience looks like and how passionate early educators are about what they do.

In Atwater, for example, we saw teachers help youngsters plant vegetables, which teaches children about cultivation and harvesting. When the plants reach maturity, children will taste the broccoli, tomatoes and green beans, write stories, and build new vocabulary from the experiences.

In honor of the first lady's visit, UC Merced dedicated a garden at its new Early Childhood Education Center at the entrance to campus.

The center and Michelle Obama's Garden for Young Children are an expression of the high value we place on preschool -- the critical beginning of a lifetime of learning.

California is already taking steps to ensure more children will receive similar high-quality early learning experiences.

The state is developing a quality rating and improvement system to evaluate quality and provide financial incentives to reach higher quality. It has also consolidated programs, making the most of the resources we have.

New federal funding for early childhood education and a president who has called early learning "the first pillar of education reform" present unprecedented opportunities to build on what California is already doing, and to act on the RAND recommendations to increase access to high-quality early learning programs for the children who need it most.

Steve Kang is chancellor of UC Merced and Sheilon King-Brock is director of customer operations at AT&T. They are co-chairs of the Business-Education Alliance of Merced County.