United Way of Butler County has long made early learning and school readiness priority issues.

Currently, the United Way of Butler County provides grant funding to assist families with inclusive child care, scholarships to enable their children to attend quality child care programs, Child Check to identify any early intervention that is necessary, and pre-K scholarships to enable children ages 3 to 5 to attend quality pre-K programs and be ready to enter kindergarten when the time comes.

In 2015, United Way of Butler County assisted more than 2,300 families with early learning and school readiness programs and scholarships.

We know — and research continues to confirm — that high-quality pre-K is among the best and most cost-effective initiatives for preparing children for success in school and beyond. It has been shown to significantly improve school readiness and increase the likelihood of high school graduation and college enrollment, which means better educated adults who enjoy stronger employment opportunities and earning potential.

Unfortunately, we also know high-quality pre-K programs are not accessible to many of this region’s young learners, in part because state investments in pre-K programs have not been aggressive enough. Pennsylvania is home to nearly 300,000 3- and 4-year-olds, including nearly 4,300 in Butler County, but only a small fraction of these children are enrolled in publicly funded pre-K, and many of those missing out are at greatest risk of academic failure.

United Way and other community-based philanthropic organizations have made strong efforts over the years to promote high-quality pre-K as a critical part of developing well-educated children, strong communities, and an overall better commonwealth. But philanthropy alone cannot get the job done. As with so many efforts to strengthen our communities, it takes collaboration. In this case, we need the state to bolster its efforts to fund high-quality pre-K programs to reach those children who are missing out.

Especially troubling in Pennsylvania is the lack of access to high-quality pre-K programs among children at risk of academic failure. Across Pennsylvania, there are more than 175,000 3- and 4-year-olds who are at-risk because they are in lower income households. Yet 70 percent of these at-risk young learners — more than 120,000 children statewide — had no access to publicly funded pre-K last year.

Butler County alone is home to more than 2,200 at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds, and nearly 80 percent of them — 1,718 children in all — lacked access to publicly funded, high-quality pre-K last year.

Fortunately, this is a problem we can solve if state leaders begin to prioritize high-quality pre-K in much the same way philanthropic organizations have.

A new report issued by Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children and the statewide, nonpartisan Pre-K for PA campaign outlines a multiyear investment strategy that can help Pennsylvania reach nearly 71,000 additional 3- and 4-year-olds over a four-year span.

If Pennsylvania were to follow through on the pre-K investment strategy proposed, we could make publicly funded, high-quality pre-K programs available to more than 40 percent of our 3- and 4-year-olds by 2019, compared with fewer than 20 percent who benefited in 2013. Just as importantly, we could reach all of our state’s at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds, helping to put them on track to academic success at an early age.

Philanthropic organizations like our United Way and others across Pennsylvania have been doing their part to make pre-K a priority because we know it works. It benefits our children, our communities and our entire commonwealth.

But local philanthropic support isn’t enough. We need the state to step up now and make pre-K a budget priority this year and in the years ahead so our region and its children can reach the fullest potential.

Our kids can’t wait.

Kierston Hobaugh is the executive director of the United Way of Butler County.