Children need quality education and smaller class sizes, along with communities that prioritize putting the horse before the cart. Unfortunately, it seems that the Grand Old Party (GOP)/Republican Party has turned this idea around for the poor and disenfranchised, exploiting the young, disadvantaged, and marginalized. Is this the kind of America we want to celebrate?

As someone who worked two jobs in high school, I know how hard it can be to balance work and education. We shouldn’t encourage our children to settle for second best or derail their dreams. Instead, we should use the standardized tests we already have to help them become accomplished professionals that we can celebrate.

Our country needs education and technology more than ever, and we need to invest in our children and ourselves to prevent a slide into a lesser version of ourselves. Let’s have long-term views of ourselves, our families, and our communities, so that we don’t end up short on resources and quality of life.

We can’t continue with an aggressive stance on the rest of the world, driven by the greed of oligarchs at home. We need to be more than this, bless others, and give our children a chance to grow into thankful, compassionate members of society.

The next time Republican politicians push policies that threaten our children’s futures, let’s make our voices heard. We need to let them know that we won’t stand for child abuse on a countrywide or global scale. We all have a responsibility to protect the young and vulnerable.