Vijay Kumar

   Let parents decide what’s in their children’s best interests. Returning K–12 education to local control will enable parents to have more clout. We must reduce federal bureaucratic interference in our schools. Bureaucracies are usually impersonal and ineffective. Local control could also lessen the choke-hold that education unions have on the education system. The interests of teachers’ unions are often at odds with parental interests. Parents (and by extension, their children) too often get the short end of the deal. The federal government and teachers’ unions should not have more control over children than parents have.

  A first step toward a more effective education system is a common language in which children are taught. Several decades ago, that was the case; sadly it is no more. English must be made, by law, the official national language. It currently is not the official language, and that must change. Proficiency in a common language provides opportunities for children of all ethnicities. A common language enables more effective and productive communication, and communication is essential if a nation is to survive. It also fosters a sense of unity among peoples of varying national origins. On the other hand, multilingualism, when it is fostered as a national norm, creates divisiveness and distrust. The nations of India, Africa, and Eastern Europe should teach us a lesson.

  We must reward those who seek a higher education by instituting tax credits for tuition. The future of our country lies in the education of our children. But education cannot be steeped in moral relativism, an aversion to patriotism, and a disdain for traditions that have kept this nation strong and prosperous. We must take back the minds of our youths from the control of primarily liberal professors and college instructors.