Connecticut may boast about having the highest per-capita income in the land, but it should be ashamed of perpetuating the nation's worst "achievement gap" between poor students and their more affluent peers.

Various educational authorities, state agencies, legislative panels and gubernatorial task forces have for years sought with little success to reverse this troubling trend, and this newspaper, like the public, has grown increasingly frustrated. Amid a prevailing attitude of pessimism we are, nonetheless, encouraged by new developments suggesting improvements, at last, may be on the horizon.

A recent report by school superintendents recommends, among other proposals, that Connecticut expand early childhood education programs and intervene more aggressively in poorly performing schools.

We like this idea, which is enjoying widespread support, since numerous authoritative studies have identified early childhood education as one of the best ways to improve long-term student performance.

Experts have found that youngsters growing up in impoverished homes are ill-prepared for classroom structure by the time they enter kindergarten, and have an increasingly difficult time adjusting to more rigorous curriculum as they grow older. Early childhood education gets youngsters acclimatized sooner to a more disciplined learning environment and gives them a better chance to learn at the same rate as those in more stable households.

Spending more money for such support is a challenge at a time when Connecticut, like most states, faces continuing fiscal challenges, but providing universal pre-school for low-income students remains one of the best investments a government can make - provided the program is carefully designed with certified educators overseeing child-care professionals focused on clear curriculum goals.

The Chicago Longitudinal Study, which followed students in early education programs through age 26, found a return on investment of 11 to 1 in terms of reduced social service costs, avoidance of the criminal-justice system, greater access to higher education scholarships and improved earnings, to name a few of the long-term benefits.

Another encouraging sign of positive change comes in a report by Connecticut's largest teachers' union that for the first time recommends a "streamlined" process for getting rid of tenured and underperforming educators.

"The teacher tenure system, complete with the mistaken notion that tenure means a 'job for life,' is as misunderstood as it is outdated," says the report of the Connecticut Education Association, representing more than 43,000 teachers.

This welcome recognition represents a significant concession by the bargaining unit. Its report, "A View from the Classroom," also includes compelling ideas about improving methods for evaluating teacher effectiveness, boosting parental involvement, and helping colleges better prepare future teachers.

This union report was issued virtually simultaneously to the superintendents' presentation, made during Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's much-anticipated Education Workshop at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.

At that workshop 91 percent of the superintendents complained that they lack the ability to remove ineffective teachers. The CEA contends that is an overstatement. Teachers can and are removed, union leaders contend, but the process is needlessly cumbersome and the teachers' organization is willing to work on improving it. That sounds like the opening for compromise.

To be sure, poor teachers with tenure have not been the main reason students in poor districts have recorded lower scores on standardized tests, but it's part of the problem.

By conceding this point, the CEA also opens the door to a true merit-based education system in which talented, effective teachers would rightfully be paid more than those with lesser capabilities.

We support this concept, as does New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg who last week recommended that teachers rated "highly effective" two years in a row receive a $20,000 bonus. Mr. Bloomberg also suggested the city pay off up to $25,000 in student loans to those would-be teachers who graduated in the top 10-percent of their class and took jobs in New York's troubled schools. Connecticut schools need to compete for that talent.

With the governor, legislature, administrators and the union representing educators all sharing ideas on reform, the state is poised for genuine change. Gov. Malloy appears to recognize he could have no greater legacy than setting in motion the changes that close the education achievement gap. This is an opportunity Connecticut cannot afford to miss.