The United States was among the first of all nations in the world to provide children and youth equal access to 12 years of public education. Democracy requires government by the people, so our early leaders believed that all people had to be educated if they were to participate effectively. As the young states began to build their universal school systems, many set the entrance age at six or seven years old (Zigler & Lang, 1991). Some two centuries later, a great deal has been learned about cognitive development in the first five years of life. Modern studies of neural patterns and brain growth suggest that learning experiences very early in life influence the capacity and motivation to learn throughout the life cycle. By preschool age, children are enormously capable of pre-academic and social training. Further, early learning experiences build the foundation for later achievement of academic skills. Despite these advances in knowledge, most young children in the United States still do not have access to public preschool education (Beatty, 1995). In fact, as of the year 2000, ten states did not even require that school districts offer kindergarten (Vecchiotti, 2003). By 2004, 42 states and the District of Columbia did mandate that school districts provide at least half-day kindergarten programs, but only 14 states and the District of Columbia required that age-eligible children attend (Education Commission of the States, 2004).