There aren’t many investments we can make that benefit us more in the long term than getting more of our youngest children access to high-quality early education programs.

Studies show that kids who get access to high-quality preschool programs are more likely to succeed academically and graduate on-time from high school. Later on in life, they’re less likely to commit crimes.

That’s why it’s worth noting — with a hefty dose of approval — that hundreds of thousands of dollars in new Pre-K Counts funding is coming to Butler and Armstrong counties.

The money will be used to expand preschool programs through Lifesteps, which will add 20 subsidized preschool openings in Butler County and launch its first preschool program in Armstrong County. The program caters to 3-and-4-year-old children who come from families below a certain income level.

That’s a great start in Armstrong and a great addition here in Butler, but it’s still not enough — a fact that Stacy Slater, vice president of early education for Lifesteps, noted to the Eagle.

“We carry a waitlist that speaks to the fact that there are still service needs in this community that are unmet,” Slater said. “There are children waiting on a waiting list.”

That’s unacceptable — and it’s long past time we moved beyond the tired debate over whether early childhood education “really works.”

Yes, it does. Really.

Last year researchers analyzed 56 years worth of published research on the subject and found that kids enrolled in high-quality early education programs were 8.1 percent less likely to be placed in special education, 8.3 percent less likely to be held back in school, and 11.4 percent more likely to graduate from high school.

This isn’t about college readiness or scoring well on standardized tests. It’s about choosing to make good investments. It costs more than $2 billion a year to keep Pennsylvania’s 47,000 adult inmates incarcerated. Half of them have less than a 12th grade education.

That’s why getting as many children as possible into high quality programs is so important. Currently only about 55 percent of American children ages 3 and 4 attend formal preschool, and advocates say Pennsylvania lags behind many other states when it comes to investments in pre-K.

In a study released last year the group, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, claimed that 64 percent of 3-and-4-year-olds in the state miss out on pre-K, even though they are eligible for high-quality programs.

State officials, to their credit, are trying to respond. In the most recent budget lawmakers approved $25 million in new money for pre-K programs for the 2018-19 year.

That’s a worthy step forward, but more must be done to ensure our young people get started off on the right foot.