The 2015 legislative early childhood debate focused on increasing access to early education, pitting those who favor universal school-based pre-kindergarten for all 4-year-olds against those who favor targeting scholarships to low-income families for use in any early learning setting rated as providing quality practices that will likely lead to school readiness. Both of these approaches promise to reduce or close the academic achievement gap. This brief proposes a different approach that champions early childhood policies that would prevent opportunity and achievement gaps -- that would prevent social, economic, and educational inequities. (author abstract)