Last modified: Wednesday, June 6, 2007 12:26 AM EDT Non-starter or starting point? It was like Gov. Deval Patrick took the citizens out for a drive to look at a new house last week. And it's a beauty. The kids could have rooms of their own. But the price is high, of course, and when it came time to say how we'll handle the mortgage, the gov said: I'll tell you later. As high as housing costs are in Massachusetts, so are the costs of education and what Patrick was touting last week, as mortarboards were flying in the air at graduations, was his "cradle to career" plan for education. The governor is proposing free community college education for all high school graduates, an extended school day and school year, universal preschool, full-day kindergarten and creation of a blue ribbon commission on the future of public education. Praise has been fairly widespread - as befits a commonwealth where brain-power is the most valuable resource, yet a shortage of skilled workers is hurting the economy - until it comes time to talk about price. As favorable as he is to the proposal, Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation president Michael Widmer estimates it will cost at least $1 billion a year. That kind of spare cash is not available, as The Sun Chronicle area's largely Republican representatives on Beacon Hill have pointed out. And the Democratic leadership at the Statehouse, reflecting views of the public at large, have made it clear they have no appetite for the kind of new broad-based taxes or tax increases the program would require. That would make the education plan a non-starter - a proposal without any chance of passing - except that Patrick is talking not about implementing the plan in the coming year, but phasing it in over a 10-year period. That gives it some hope, however small. Patrick could boost its chances by cutting the potential pricetag before he comes back with his funding plan. We have doubts about the wisdom and necessity of making community college free for high school grads. Certainly, the tuition needs to be cut. It's unwise for Massachusetts to be charging roughly $3,500 a year while the national average is $2,200. Reducing the cost to the average or below, and boosting aid for students in serious need, would make more sense and could greatly reduce that portion of the plan's costs, which is now expected to amount to $50 million to $75 million a year. Expansion of the school day or school year is also a proposal we look on favorably. But the education department has been testing the idea for a few years through grants awarded to selected districts. This practice should be expanded, easing in the longer year rather than bringing it in all at once. Full-day kindergarten should also be introduced more gradually. Taxpayers should let their state representatives and senators know where they stand on the issue. So should advocates of educational improvements. But they would also do well to advise the governor to trim his sails. That could give his program a chance to get into the starting gate for a gradual introduction of "cradle to career" education. At its current scale we doubt the proposal is going much of anywhere.