Many business leaders may not have considered the simple prospect that children can and should learn at very early ages. But research shows that children who are exposed to education from infancy to age 5 will have greater success in the classroom and later in life.

In our Sept. 23-29 issue, reporter Jeff Pullin explained that The West Virginia KIDS COUNT Fund, A Vision Shared and the Marshall University Center for Business and Economic Research are collaborating to convince West Virginians that supporting early childhood education is an investment in economic development.

The theory is simple: Children who have access to education at an early age are more likely to become appealing employees and energetic entrepreneurs. They are apt to stay out of trouble and build strong local communities.

While many children already receive early exposure to learning, others do not. With public education resources already stressed in support of public schools and colleges and universities, West Virginia would be hard pressed to extend its public resources through traditional means.

The work of KIDS COUNT and its partners is important. Their next step will be to help find a cost-effective way to extend learning to our youngest citizens.