The time is now for bold reform to shake up the existing education system and lift the hopes of the millions of children who are stuck in schools that are failing them. For too long, federal educating dollars have flowed to state and local governments without adequate mechanisms to hold them accountable for results.

During the 2000 campaign, voters consistently ranked education as their highest priority. Eighty percent of those voters supported national certification for teachers, and 78 percent supported spending at least $3 billion to repair our nation’s crumbling schools. Clearly, parents know what many politicians are only just discovering: Well-prepared teachers teaching in well-equipped schools will help ensure our students’ academic success.

Parents also understand that accountability — linking dollars to results — is the key to success. In a recent survey, over two-thirds of parents with children in public schools favored instituting performance targets for principals and teachers. A similar number favored taking swift action to reform under-performing schools.

Across our community and around the nation, student enrollments are surging, but school buildings are crumbling. In the last decade, enrollment in my home state of Tennessee increased by 12 percent. By 2010, elementary and secondary school enrollment in our state is expected to increase by another 20,000 students — requiring an additional 800 classrooms.

Existing schools in Tennessee are in desperate need of renovation. According to one report, 75 percent of the schools in our state need repairs before their condition can be considered good. Sixty-five percent report serious environmental problems — such as poor heating, lighting, or ventilation — that are hazards to the health and safety of children, and harm their ability to learn. Overall, it is estimated that $3.2 billion is required to repair and rebuild Tennessee’s schools, including $2.3 billion for infrastructure and $900 million for technology needs.

Nationally, the need is just as severe. According to the National Education Association, the average American public school is 42 years old. Communities around the country are experiencing similar increases in enrollment. School construction and renovation are national problems demanding a national response. Parents, teachers and administrators should have control over the schooling of children. But in schools across Tennessee and the nation, the resources of the federal government are sorely needed. If we can find the will and the resources to build prison after prison, then surely we can do better by our kids. We can build new schools and repair crumbling school buildings. We can reduce class sizes and connect every classroom to the Internet. We can hire more teachers and pay teachers what they are worth. No one is proposing that the federal government should become America’s school board. But by holding schools accountable while ensuring that they have the resources needed to improve, the federal government can partner with states and localities to stop subsidizing failure and start rewarding success. Improving America’s schools is not just an issue of creating opportunities for children. In a technology-driven global economy, our nation will need a highly-skilled workforce to compete and succeed economically.

Today, hundreds of thousands of technology jobs are going unfilled in the United States because we have a shortage of skilled workers. A recent survey found that 80 percent of employers reported at least some difficulty finding qualified applicants for their positions, and half of those reported great difficulty. Another survey found that 36 percent of job applicants taking an employer-administered test lacked the necessary math and reading skills.

More than 20 percent of American adults read at or below the fifth-grade level. Companies are finding it difficult to hire workers because our schools have failed to prepare enough young people to fill these high-skill jobs.

If America is going to maintain its economic leadership in the world, we have to invest in tomorrow’s workforce. That means we need to redouble our commitment to education, while holding schools accountable for results.

I ran for Congress because I believed then, as I do now, that priorities like education are more important than political gamesmanship. In the past, Congress has chosen to play the game of inaction, gridlock and blame — a game in which there are no winners. When we lose sight of what’s important, it is our children who lose.

(As told to Nupur Sidhu. This series has been made possible by the Indian American Center for Political Awareness)