President Obama last month announced his plan to invest $4 billion in expanding early education for children. In the meantime Zero to Three — a national advocacy organization and member of the newly launched Invest in Us campaign — rallied its own team around the need to ensure babies are a substantive part of that equation.

“There are too many babies at risk of falling behind because of economic and other factors — and addressing those issues at preschool is simply too late,” executive director Matthew Melmed said to Zero to Three’s home visiting experts gathered for a training session in Florida. “We can’t be shortsighted about these consequences. Babies are this nation’s entrepreneurs, leaders, athletes and educators in the making. It is imperative that we ensure they have the tools to be as successful as possible in their future endeavors.” Zero to Three has studied the impact of healthy relationships and experiences on babies’ brain development, and the science is unmistakable: early intervention is key to neurological wiring that lasts a lifetime.

According to a recent national poll, 85 percent of voters place children getting a strong start in life as one of the highest national priorities, second only to increasing jobs and economic growth. See Zero to Three’s public policy webpage: http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/Dave Edie