THOUSANDS of Guamanian families are struggling to make ends meet every day. Some live precariously, somehow finding a way to make it from paycheck to paycheck. While others are struggling so badly, they need the government’s help to make sure their children don’t go to bed hungry.

But, for many of these children, nightly dinners won’t be their only challenge. Their uphill battle will be a daily fight with the unseen force of the cycle of dependence and poverty. They’ll attend a school system that has often failed others in their same situation, a system that has allowed our most vulnerable students to fall through the cracks.

This is yet another example of how, and why, education is so important. Outside of the home, the classroom is our only defense in the fight against poverty. It’s where inspiration, guidance and knowledge meet face to face with circumstance in a battle for progress.

Our strategies to grow a robust economy must first and foremost include an intense focus on building a sustainable workforce. It needs to start with education and giving our students the skills and knowledge they need to become professionals who thrive on doing good work and giving back to the community.

I reported this week that at least half of the children in the Department of Education’s Head Start Program are now performing at their age expectation levels. At the beginning of the school year last fall, 70 to 90 percent were testing below their appropriate age levels. This is a success story that needs to become the standard for a school system whose students are on a continuous path of progress.

In addition, a group of visionary educators came together to discuss and strategize how to implement and improve early childhood developmental initiatives on Guam during the Early Learning Summit this week. Their research and work will strengthen early learning initiatives throughout our schools to get students on the right track early on.

But the success with early learning programs must be followed through to the high school level. The “hand up” given in the Head Start Program needs to continue at every level and must be extended to every student.

Our plans for economic growth and private sector expansion will be fruitless if our people, especially our most needy families, cannot take advantage of the opportunities before us.