Among the gubernatorial budgets for FY11 are a number of setbacks for pre-k proposals. In Arizona, the governor is recommending the total elimination of funding for her state's program, jeopardizing an integral part of publicly supported education. Similarly, in Illinois, the governor's budget includes a severe rollback for the state's pre-k-for-all program, highlighting the need for sustainable, secure funding to protect and grow high-quality early learning.

By contrast, several of the nation's strongest early learning champions are holding fast to their priorities. Governors of several states, including Michigan, are protecting pre-k by proposing flat funding despite serious budget gaps. Others, such as the new governors of Virginia and New Jersey, are making recommendations and offering public remarks that continue long-standing traditions of bipartisan support for early education in their states.

At the same time, the role of the federal government in sustaining, improving and expanding state pre-k is at a crossroads. With reauthorization of the nation's major education law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, on the president's 2010 legislative agenda, the opportunity for our nation to fully embrace pre-k as the critical first step in education reform has never been greater. So far, however, the Obama administration has not matched its strong rhetoric with concrete proposals.

Across the country, policy makers are working to balance declining budgets with growing demands for quality education systems that prepare children to become the workforce of tomorrow and generate positive returns on taxpayer investments. Nationwide, at both the state and federal levels, prioritizing pre-k as the essential starting point for successful education reform is urgently needed. Nothing less than the future of our children, our schools and our national economic competitiveness is at stake.