3 things lawmakers can do now for our youngest learners: it's never too early to start teaching a child.

• Author: Weyer, Matthew
• Position: EARLY EDUCATION

It's an exciting time to be a little one. The importance of high-quality early childhood education has captured the nation's attention. State legislators have been at the forefront of this trend. They introduced nearly 1,100 bills on early childhood education and passed nearly a third of them during the 2015 and 2016 sessions. The laws focus on students in preschool through third grade and address a range of issues, from accountability to teacher training and everything in between.

Funding's Up

Early childhood education funding increased to nearly $7 billion nationwide during the 2015-16 school year, a 12 percent increase from the year before, thanks to legislation in 32 states and the District of Columbia.

Yet, even with more legislation, funding, research and public attention, preschool attendance rates still lag. Only about 10 percent of all 4-year-olds are enrolled in high-quality, full-day programs, but that rate varies greatly by ethnicity and income, according to the Center for American Progress.

Without a high-quality preschool education, some students will enter kindergarten behind their peers. Currently, African-American and Hispanic children are, on average, nine to 10 months behind their white classmates in math skills and seven to 12 months behind in reading, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research. These differences can persist throughout their K-12 careers.

So, what can lawmakers do?

1 Stop looking for a simple fix.

The idea of closing the achievement gap with a single solution is tantalizing. There are many examples of promising reforms: moving to full-day kindergarten, prohibiting suspensions and expulsions of preschoolers, improving student-teacher ratios. All have shown potential, but they rarely work in isolation. A school district, for example, may have a highly effective preschool, but if students move on to a mediocre half-day kindergarten program or a classroom bursting with a high student-teacher ratio, the benefits of the high-quality preschool can be lost.

Reforms should be systemic, focusing on the ways various elements overlap and support each other and providing incremental change toward a shared long-term vision. But how can legislators, with short sessions and limited resources, achieve long-term sustainable change? By setting priorities, forging new alliances and reshaping the discourse and vision.

Countries that are winning the education race have revamped their entire systems, with...