I keep coming back to my conversation this week with Yale emeritus professor extraordinaire Edward Zigler, one of the father's of Head Start. One of the things Ed said really bothered him was the idea that a good preschool program only had to serve four-year-olds. He said preschool, in his mind, should mean from birth to kindergarten. But, at the very least, he said, preschool should serve 3 and 4 year olds. Now comes Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry who this week proposed to spend a modest $15 million to run a pilot pre-k program for 3 year olds in the public schools and another $15 million to add programs for 3 year olds in private settings. Oklahoma high quality program reaches nearly 70% of its 4 year olds, mostly in public school settings. This would expand it. The Norman, Oklahoma paper has the story here.

Here's an excerpt:

"It's an investment that will pay huge dividends not tomorrow, not by the next election cycle, but in five years, 10 years, 15 years down the line -- a generation down the line," Henry said at a news conference Monday. "It will make a tremendous difference for the state of Oklahoma."