A new study out of Berkeley* University reveals that preschool enrollment rates for Latino children has decreased for the first time since the early 80’s. The trend is disturbing because research over the last quarter century has conclusively tied preschool education to the future success of children in school and in the professional world.

In 1991, about a third of Latino four-year-olds were enrolled in preschool. By 2005 that percentage had reached 53 percent, still very low compared to the rates for African American four-year-olds (69 percent) and non-Latino Whites (70 percent) in 2005.

Latino preschool enrollment appears to have gone down between 2005 and 2009, while rates remained solid for African American and White four year-olds. Experts say that research has shown that preschool education is perhaps the most crucial point for children to gain the cognition and literacy skills to achieve success in later years.

“We know that if the achievement gap is wide at this early age, band aids placed at later levels like high school, will not bridge that gap for children,” says Bruce Fuller, co–author of the new study.

Latinos are projected to be a third of the total U.S. population by 2050. If they continue to lag behind in access to quality early childhood programs, they are less likely to ever catch up academically and face dire prospects for gainful employment as adults.

Fuller says that there seem to be a number of reasons for Latinos falling behind in preschool enrollment. “It seems like two or three strong factors have converged over the last five years,” he says. “First, the Latino child population continues to grow at a steady clip, higher than for whites, adding to the denominator. Governments also have a weaker capacity to keep pace with the child ...