Professional development is a topic that is near and dear to the author's heart. The author has spent more hours than she can count trying to get her colleagues in the U.S. Department of Education to understand that early childhood professional development has to be part of the education continuum. She would argue that even if they had the luxury of spending every dollar in the federal budget on school reform, at the end of every 6 years they would see little progress, because the children entering kindergarten continue to come from poor early childhood environments. Without linking early childhood professional development to elementary school professional development, young children, especially poor children, will come to school unprepared to succeed. The author explains why teachers need the Rs of research, rigor, and respect to be the foundations of a new way to prepare early childhood educators. She hopes they will also understand that unless they figure out how to develop a well prepared, high quality early childhood workforce, they will never be able to make a dent in the achievement gap that dooms too many of this nation's youngest citizens. Well prepared early childhood educators are the first line of defense in attacking the achievement gap.