Unfortunately, it seems that politicians use education as one of their many tools for getting elected (who can argue against a pro-education platform?) and then fail to follow through once they are in office.

Throughout the past three weeks, the U.S. Senate has discussed the following: 1) An amendment to the Constitution to ban same-sex marriages throughout the nation; 2) A bill to cancel the Estate Tax which favors half of a percent of Americans, the very wealthiest of all and cuts programs for average Americans; and 3) An amendment to the Constitution to ban flag burning.

None of this has to do with education in the least, and in fact, is an insult to the millions of American students. Our Senators have decided for us that issues like flag burning are more important than our education and therefore the future of our national economy and labor force.

It is time for politicians to follow through on their promises, bring education improvement policies to the forefront of the national debate, and stop ignoring this incredibly important issue.

Stacy Tolos is a Junior at Vanderbilt University. She is a fellow with Young People For, a project of People for the American Way, and has worked with Idealist.org, Ashoka, and other leading non-profits.