Early childhood education is too important to be left to chance. Without a comprehensive statewide plan for quality services for all children, an important stage of a child's development goes neglected.

That neglect could mean more than whether a child is prepared to learn upon entering kindergarten. Indeed, a poor start in school could have lasting and wide-ranging repercussions on the socioeconomic well-being of the state.

For that reason, the Legislature earlier this year passed Act 259, which charged a group of educators with devising a five-year plan for a public-private partnership to address the needs of families with children up to age 5.

The Early Learning Educational Task Force includes Dee Jay Mailer of Kamehameha Schools, Robert Peters of Hanahau'oli School, Katherine Murphy of the Hawai'i Association for the Education of Young Children, and Elizabeth Chun of Good Beginnings Alliance. The group will submit its first report this week.

But the real work is about to begin in earnest as the task force seeks public input from families and the community on the subject of early childcare and education.

From friends and relatives who provide home care, to informal neighborhood playgroups, to the more traditional preschools, the task force will identify the programs that work in every community, across cultural and economic barriers. Once the best practices are identified, the task force hopes to augment them with new programs, including standards for preschool teachers, and then seamlessly integrate it all into a program that will assure equal opportunity for success.

It's too early to say how much it will all cost. But if the job is done right, the task force will live up to its vision of enabling Hawai'i's children "to be loved, safe, healthy and ready to succeed."

That's a worthy goal.