Members of the Los Angeles Breakfast Club recently learned more about the importance and value of quality preschool to the children of Los Angeles County, during a    well-received presentation by Celia C. Ayala, Ph.D., CEO of LAUP.

Speaking to the group that consists primarily of business and professional people, as well as active retirees at the Friendship Auditorium in Los Angeles, Dr. Ayala explained that today's preschoolers are learning information that children learned in kindergarten not long ago.

"Children today need to know 10 times more information than kids did in past years," she explained. "Preschool is an opportunity for many children to enter kindergarten ready to thrive."

Dr. Ayala explained that quality preschool helps erase the achievement gap that affects so many children in the K-12 school system. If children enter kindergarten behind their peers, they are likely to struggle throughout the school system, Dr. Ayala said. One stark example is the fact that 80 percent of individuals in jail today read below a third-grade level.

"We all need to be interested in the future youth of our society," Dr. Ayala said.

Dee Everts, Immediate Past President of the Los Angeles Breakfast Club, said she's always been a strong advocate of education, and appreciated hearing the early childhood education angle from Dr. Ayala.

"I know from my own personal experience that education is very essential," she said.

Everts added hearing about the LAUP's commitment to expand accessibility to high-quality preschool education in Los Angeles County is a mission many people would be happy to support.

"This is an absolutely essential program," she explained. "Yet, the legislature can't keep their fingers out of the money. We should try to make preschool education  affordable for everyone."