D.J. Tice writes a good column ("When Father did his best," April 13). We need more fathers practicing fatherhood. Even better would be fathers partnering with mothers — two-parent families bringing up their children.

If the "nuclear family" were still the norm, things would be much better. For instance, you could cut the cost of education. When I was in school (in ancient times) there was one teacher in each classroom, plus a principal, vice principal and a few staff members. Today's problems realistically require much more staff. Why? Because in many cases, there is too little or not enough parenting, even though some single parents certainly do a fine job.

The two-parent family should be the example. In short, marriage should be stressed, honored and encouraged. All kinds. Or just couples living together, married or not. I don't want to get hung up on the moral question. Let's just get the fathers back into the family however that can be accomplished.

Bob Rabinovitz, Minnetonka