Letter: ‘Undirected’ education still useful

My daughter has a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater with a minor in literature and graduate studies in voice. She also speaks and writes Japanese.

To state Sen. Conrad Appel (letter March 7), that sort of education may appear to be not “directed to workforce needs.”

She passed up an opportunity to teach English in Tokyo, which would have earned her big bucks, but “big bucks” are not necessarily her focus. She could have become a voice teacher, but not in Louisiana, where the arts are considered a “waste.”

What does she do with her “undirected” education? Well, her voice makes her a very appreciated choir member, and she does get paid for that. She is also an appreciative audience member for all of the performing arts.

She lives in Seattle, where she keeps getting promoted at a well-known bookseller’s operation because of her knowledge of literature, music, and the very useful Japanese. At her bookseller job, she settled a conflict with a Muslim who was spoiling for a fight, demanding to know why the Quran was displayed way at the top of a pile of Bibles where he couldn’t see them. My daughter, pulling from her brain full of “useless education,” quoted a passage from the Quran, which stated the “Quran should be placed above all books,” which she took to mean on the top of the pile. The Muslim slunk away.

The boss gave my daughter a bonus.

My point is that a broad education creates a person who is adaptable to a constantly changing world, and one who is a more civilized human being.

That, too, must be a part of a “bright, sustainable future.”

Sarah Stravinska

retired professor of dance

Chestnut

Comments

1) Comment by bourbon-soda - 14/03/2013

@prb - I don't know whether I have a competence or comfort zone but that is outside it. I am honored that you asked.

2) Comment by prbeav - 13/03/2013

The headmaster proposed a telephone conversation.

3) Comment by bourbon-soda - 13/03/2013

You are going to do this with a blog at that site or ??. I'll try to monitor it. Maybe just post a clue where your discussion is and meanwhile I'll check out thenewamericanacademy.org. Thanks.

4) Comment by prbeav - 13/03/2013

@bourbon-soda. I contacted thenewamericanacademy.org/ and it led to an opportunity to discuss my ideas about early education sometime after March 18. I would love to have your thoughts and participation, if there was a way we could discuss. I can give you my contact information if you want.

5) Comment by prbeav - 13/03/2013

@scrooge. Thank you for the kind words and question.>>>>I am humbled about what my dear father gave me: a ¾ sized violin, which I still own, but moreover lasting appreciation for music. I played Dad’s violin in Carnegie Hall, NYC, in the 1954 Spring Youth Gala, as a member of the Knoxville, Tennessee all-city youth orchestra. I last studied violin under Emily Remine at the University of Tennessee, but when I entered UT, my engineering studies so overwhelmed me I gave violin up to favor trying to mimic Dave Brubeck (how bold can a poor boy be?) : one of my great sorrows is that I now play neither the violin nor the piano, but better to have played and stopped than to never have played. Music, visual arts, reading, writing, talking, smiling, and formerly public speaking, are major parts of my life; the only thing I regret is my ignorance. >>>>If I may introduce my daughter: She was warmly received at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Plaquemine, in a concert on October 3, 2012. On December 21, 2012, she and a friend presented a 2-hour Christmas concert, “Rebekah Beaver: Home for Christmas.” The audience was very appreciative. The ticket sales did not pay her expenses, but I cannot wait for her next concert. Her attractive art is expressing thematic, heart-felt thought in the concerts she produces.>>>>My life in engineering is important to me, but pales before the social experiences afforded by the arts and arts performers. I am not alone in awe for true musicians.

6) Comment by bourbon-soda - 13/03/2013

Odd that the Prussians, and Germany in general, got such achievement in music, along with literature and creative science - look at all those Nobels, especially if you include expatriate Germans - out of such a highly directed authoritarian education system. But you are correct, I continued a diversion into secondary and lower education. As with vocational and academic disciplines, I tend to blur the demarcation, as do the schools now with advanced placement and college credit while in high school. I did not discount arts or arts education. If I were a contemporary Frederick the Great, I would dictate that the ability to draw a decent rendition of reality, carry a tune, and pen a sonnet would be requirements for any baccalaureate, along with calculus and and an understanding of probability and statistics - very directed. Lesser certifications would not be so broad, allowing the math, music, and foreign language etc. impaired to obtain narrower occupational credentials. Oh, and the "PhD Octopus" also comes from Germany. I take it the question of the strong Prussian influence, if not derivation, of American secondary and lower education, is settled.

7) Comment by Scrooge - 12/03/2013

Bourbon-soda regarding a prussian model-except for the discipline, of course,an aspect which is sorely lacking but I still do not understand the point as regards the arts and arts education unless there is some relation between the perceived value and quality of art (in which the Prussians excelled, particularly in music) and arts education which it appears you are attempting to discount

8) Comment by bourbon-soda - 12/03/2013

@Scrooge - that does not contradict Gatto's assertion that American public schools were founded on the Prussian model, which Horace Mann, among others, admired.

9) Comment by Scrooge - 12/03/2013

Prbeav I must say that I value your insights, you are a man who has not spent a lifetime wallowing in ignorance. Did you study the arts in some aspect in school? Did you find that beneficial?

10) Comment by Scrooge - 12/03/2013

Before Prussian models there were English models and literacy models based on the requirement to read the Bible and avoid hades. The model in Louisiana was that the privileged received educations either by tutor or by boarding schools while the peasantry didn't need educations(sound familiar?) but the point is?

11) Comment by prbeav - 12/03/2013

GardenVariety, I appreciate your attention to enough of Einstein's thought about imagination. Ending my seventh decade, turning ON my natural-selection switch that has been in Neutral or Off, I recently read two books on it and watched videos online to add to the authors' insights and now think imagination can't touch discovery, which actually "embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.">>>>Einstein never did separate understanding from religion, and in the above quote seems to miss the possibility that imagination can steal your brief chance at life. For example, he is lucky that Edwin Hubble rescued him from his "cosmological factor," which forced his mathematical model of the dynamic (expanding) universe into the static model in Einstein's imagination. Things are not what they seem, especially for Einstein.

12) Comment by bourbon-soda - 12/03/2013

Recovered memories of a golden age of American public education that never existed. American public education was modeled and organized on the authoritarian Prussian system designed to serve one of the first and most efficient military-industrial complexes. To the best of my memory, John Taylor Gatto was a distinguished public school teacher who went renegade and writes about it, among other things. To read about it, search "odysseus group john taylor gatto prussian connection" and go to "The Land of Frankenstein" hit at johntaylorgatto.com

13) Comment by GardenVariety - 12/03/2013

I'm with you completely, Scrooge.

14) Comment by Scrooge - 12/03/2013

GardenVariety, wiritng about :"...dreams, creativity, intelligence, and imagination--not just as they relate to the arts, but also in the sciences and math" separating the left and right brains leaves one with half a brain, the evidence is rife, one need look no further than these advocate comment boards. The comparison to the Soviet Union is thought provoking, as an oligarchy seeking to control the populace. It is utterly absurd to discount arts education since the fostering of creativity is arts education's raison d'etre, no matter what one's profession or predilection might be.ELiminating arts education reminds of the utterly brainless elimination of PE classes for elementary students for more math classes which was tried a few years ago, such policies ignore the reality and necessities of human existence and like the PE experiment, will fail but not without damage.

15) Comment by GardenVariety - 12/03/2013

I find it interesting that our Republitarians and their moderate-to-liberal pragmatist allies are making arguments for the sort of society in which one's value as an American, not to mention human, is dictated by "workforce skills" and "productivity." I remember when growing up during the 70s and 80s, the American propaganda constantly spewed at me and my generation was that the Soviets were soulless, un-imaginative, utilitarian automatons who were destined to work for the benefit of the State. Like most propaganda, it was based on half-truths and stereotypes, but the message was clear: being free means learning everything you can, being "all you can be," reaching one's potential, thinking outside the box, etc., etc., etc. That message might've been unrealistic, too some degree, but it was an ideal that informed the whole society. Now, what I'm hearing being promoted as the American ideal is a variation of the Soviet stereotype: "good enough" is the best you can hope for; get job-training skills so that you may contribute to the economy; know your place, and make the best of it; leave higher-level work and cultural production to the upper echelons; etc. What happened to that much vaunted myth of the American Dream? I'm not being naive when I ask that. I know that, for most, that "dream" was and is just that, a dream; nevertheless, dreams are often templates for future possibilities. I'm observing more and more cynical pragmatism, an attitude that lacks (if not scorns) dreams, creativity, intelligence, and imagination--not just as they relate to the arts, but also in the sciences and math. This whole discussion and situation reminds me to hold on more dearly to the verity in one of Einstein's famous professions: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

16) Comment by HerbF - 12/03/2013

I won't say that such degrees are "useless", but they sure aren't practical. I think most people attend college to learn how to make a living. Some persue knowledge out of curiosity. Many of those do so because they simply aren't able to say what they want to do "for the rest of my life", which is what they're tasked with at that stage. Which is why I ended up with a worthless degree in political science. I wish I had better perspective or guidance at that point. Which brings me back to the point: These degrees are practically worthless in terms of making a living. If that's what you want, there are far better choices available. >>>> The fact that the writers daughter seems to be a happy and well rounded person doesn't address the money issue at all. Such a path would be disasterous for most students.

17) Comment by bourbon-soda - 12/03/2013

Many non-football-players too.

18) Comment by nimby? - 12/03/2013

many football players choose the "no classes" option ...

19) Comment by Ivy - 12/03/2013

I am waiting for someone to point out that the young lady lives and works inSeattle. Most of the posters here believe (wrongly) that a liberal education is for those who can't hunker down and get a "hard" degree. I am certain that some one sees the irony here, better job opportunity for her degree with the potential for promotion - out of state!! And for the record, even if one does pursue and obtain a "useful" degree, there's no job guarantee - I am referring to the jobs loss story on the privatization of the public hospitals. Shameful.

20) Comment by Bouncer - 12/03/2013

Geek.

21) Comment by bourbon-soda - 12/03/2013

I just checked requirements for dance, where "technique courses" are mentioned; and music, similarly participation in "ensembles," all analogous to football and other sports. A football player could earn credit for dance technique and band but not in activities more tailored to his abilities, hopes and dreams. No justice, no peace.

22) Comment by bourbon-soda - 12/03/2013

No humor intended. If not a major, then a trivial modification such as counting football practice as contact hours in those programs should not be too much to ask.

23) Comment by Bouncer - 12/03/2013

LSU currently offers degrees that are tailored to students who are interested in working within professions related to sports. Creating a degree in football would actually be redundant, and we must keep a lid on duplication and waste. Don't you just hate it when an attempt at humor fails miserably and instead reveals the poster's ignorance and tiresome antagonism to higher ed?

24) Comment by Bighug - 12/03/2013

It isn't necessary nor right to customize all college education to fit the needs of corporations. Our taxes and tuition also help pay for the operation of the universities. My education was worth more to me in personal satisfaction than it ever was in obtaining employment. That's why I worked to pay for it. I only wish I had taken more courses in the arts. Thanks for a great letter, Professor Stravinska.

25) Comment by ScotB - 12/03/2013

The more educated anyone is, the better for the world. The problem with our universities is a prevalence of unilateral thought, without a full exploration of all points of view. There is quite a lot of indoctrination, rather than education going on in our institutions of higher learning. It sounds like your daughter is happy in her work, which is good thing professor. Congratulations.

26) Comment by SuzanneMS - 11/03/2013

I have told you, firefly. Bouncer has told you. Serenade has told you. Dr. Stravinska has told you. Scrooge has told you. Unfortunately, you are unable to see beyond your own narrow, restrictive, utilitarian view of life. No degree is useless if it means that a person has been educated. A university education is not the same as a vocational degree. If your only goal in life is to get a good paying, stable job, then I recommend plumbing, or auto mechanics, or HVAC. You can train for those jobs in a couple of years, then earn your journeyman and master and probably make more than most doctors and lawyers. If your goal, however, is to enrich your life, expand your horizons, gain a greater knowledge and understanding of the world and your fellow inhabitants -- well, you can do that by earning a university degree or you can do that by following an individualized program of reading and exploration. There is no reason that a plumber cannot also be a philosopher -- or a philosopher a plumber. And if you want to be a doctor or lawyer or researcher or politician or diplomat or religious leader or librarian or teacher -- you'll need one of those "useless" degrees in order to get into graduate school.

27) Comment by Scrooge - 11/03/2013

Who need the arts, they just inspire people to question authority and the immutability of circumstance, only those made in the image of God should be allowed to be so subversive. Mediocre undisciplined, uneducated presumptions of the creative spirit are all that are necessary for a mediocre, primitive society. One need only examine the Renaissance to demonstrate the uselessness of the arts. Louisiana music? Humbug.

28) Comment by GardenVariety - 11/03/2013

Thanks for a great letter, Prof. Stravinska!

29) Comment by bourbon-soda - 11/03/2013

@Scrooge - thanks for support from an unexpected quarter. A football degree and department would be the academic equivalent of a dance or theater department, only it would be self-sustaining.

30) Comment by Scrooge - 11/03/2013

Excellent point, bourbon-soda. Measured by financial return, those degrees in business and engineering are relatively useless as well compared to the economic benefits of football. The obvious, moral and financially prudent thing to do would be to get rid of those other useless degrees and LSU can be finest football school in the world. Employers in Louisiana needing employees with educations in other areas can just hire them from other states where resources are still being wasted issuing useless degrees. A side benefit would be that there will be no more confusion about LSU's mission and no more embarrassment about being the dumbest state. Geaux Tigers.

31) Comment by bourbon-soda - 11/03/2013

Why not a bachelor's in football, with Professors of Football and Chairmen of the Football Department?

32) Comment by firefly225 - 11/03/2013

SuzanneMS---how am I wrong? These useless degrees have above average unemployment rates. And for the poor souls (no pun intended) who actually get a job in the field it's often for very low wages. Because of this, IMO, it's a money making scheme and just wrong for a flagship university to even charge someone to get these hobby "degrees." Considering the job climate I just described, you should ask these graduates how they're enjoying paying back those student loans. I bet they wish someone would've been realistic with them either when they were in high school or even while in college. Again, a hobby isn't always a career. I'm speaking as a whole. It's a very small % of the population that actually use these degrees in said field. And for those, bravo!! deanwelles--- funny!!!

33) Comment by nimby? - 11/03/2013

SuzanneMS , of the three cousins from Ferriday , Jimmy Swaggart , Jerry Lee and Mickey Gilly Jimmy was the best musician . shame he went to the pulpit . Mozart , as well Bach , Beethoven , Handel , Mahler , Verdi and many others left us with many treasures . it's a shame most of our populations musical taste is limited somewhere between American idol and Beyonce . what I am saying is make your priorities . Mozart chose his work over family , health . an artist need is self centered , lives day to day , by passion , emotion . he needs a financier to indulge him . or something else to fall back on when his dream doesn't keep the wolves from the door or puts food in his childrens bellies ...

34) Comment by bourbon-soda - 11/03/2013

Putting quotes around paraphrase is a technique for building straw men, as here.

35) Comment by deanwelles - 11/03/2013

It's ironic that she's so enlighted and talented but her job is easily replaced by amazon.com robots.

36) Comment by SuzanneMS - 11/03/2013

Thank you, serenade. Well-written as usual, Noel. bourbon_soda, the quotes indicate that the writer is paraphrasing Appel's letter. So, nimby?, are you suggesting that the world would have been a better, richer place if Mozart had -- what, pulled teeth? -- rather than composing symphonies, concerti, piano music, chamber music, instrumental works, sacred music, organ music, arias, and operas? That we would all enjoy life more without "The Magic Flute" and "The Marriage of Figaro?" And that Mozart himself would have lived a more satisfying as well as longer life if he had denied his gifts? firefly225, you are so wrong it's painful. "Flagship university" is not a synonym for "vocational school."

37) Comment by Bouncer - 11/03/2013

***That's "Well stated, Noel." Those darn commas.

38) Comment by Bouncer - 11/03/2013

Ditto to serenade.

39) Comment by Bouncer - 11/03/2013

Well, stated, Noel. I have always maintained that far, far too many people in the state of Louisiana place LSU on par with Camelot Business College, i.e., the university is no more than a vocational or technical school. They don't seem to recognize the value of an education that surpasses vo-tech training.

40) Comment by serenade - 11/03/2013

I graduated from a liberal arts university, where all students, regardless of major, were required to take 2 courses in composition and rhetoric, 2 courses in literature, 3 courses in philosophy, 2 courses in theology, 2 courses in math and/or science, 2 courses in arts appreciation and/or fine arts, and 2 courses in social science, in addition to an introductory freshman course that involved readings across disciplines and time periods and a senior integrating seminar that looked at various topics from a multidisciplinary perspective. The largest major at that university was pre-health sciences (medical, dental, pharmacy, etc.), and we had a placement rate of over 98%. The second largest group of majors was in engineering (mechanical, electrical, civil, and computer). Every single engineering graduate had a job upon graduation, and employers have consistently said that they reason they hired students from that school was that our students were able to communicate better that students from non-liberal arts schools, and because our students could hold conversations about more than just the discipline they were working in. Liberal arts education is important.

41) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 11/03/2013

So saddened by the mere notion that higher education (or schooling in general) is seen as utilitarian, and not as a search for better understanding of our world, our lives, and our ability to create. Really? And so much of the maudlin rhetoric about "failures" in education measure only one very narrow band of what passes as meaningful. It reminds me so much of a woman who spoke quite eloquently of her son, who faces multiple mental, social, and physical challenges when faced with the one- size-fits-all mentality. His mother spoke of this, and the reply to her question about why we don't value other methods for evaluating a child's progress, was told by our State Superintendent that other means of assessing her son's growth were simply too difficult. A wonderful story comes to mind... the drunk who is asked by a passer-by in the night "I see you are looking for something under that streetlight, would you like some help?" The drunk welcomed his help, and they searched for some time, and finally, the Good Samaritan asked... are you sure you dropped it here? "No, I dropped it down the road a ways." "Why are you looking here under the streetlight?" You know the asnwer... "The light is better here." A final message, which some have attributed to Einstein and some to William Bruce Cameron: "Not everything that can be counted counts. Not everything that counts can be counted." Education is so much more than a utilitarian function.

42) Comment by nimby? - 11/03/2013

as a civil war buff I wanted to research , write on the subject . while at LSU I started digging , studying , taking notes . however this was not going to feed my family , so I became a teacher . 40 years later I can afford to indulge my wishes , working on the book again . would like to point out many of the masters died penniless under a mountain of debt . Mozarts' body , due to a lack of funds was dumped in a mass grave ...

43) Comment by firefly225 - 11/03/2013

Sorry, but overall, I disagree. I am very happy this young lady loves her customer service job at a bookstore. I've always been of the opinion "degrees" like this should only be offered by a university as either a secondary degree or elective. For the most part, the outcome is not as happy and bright as this one. When people get degrees like this it's rare they actually use the degree to work in that field. Sure, you're always told to "do what you love." That doesn't necessarily mean go spend upwards of $20k to get a degree in it. The two don't always go together. I've have always argued that a real "flagship" university shouldn't even offer stuff like this as a primary degree, if they wish to maintain their flaship status. In all, my point is don't let this letter be misleading to some life lived in the sunshine by getting traditionally "useless" degrees. The job market is much, much more friendly to traditional degrees such a business.

44) Comment by prbeav - 11/03/2013

Mr. Hammatt, thank you for placing responsibilities where they lie: 1) the Advocate for captioning Ms Stravinska's message, which she might have labeled "'Chosen' education still useful" or maybe "Personal pursuits more rewarding," 2) current legislators and their appointees for creationism, vouchers, and mis-management of teaching systems, and 3) We the People (defined in the preamble to the US Constitution) of Louisiana for not voting for just governance by the governed. The number one reform we need is for the people to commit to and trust the seven secular goals stated in the preamble.

45) Comment by bourbon-soda - 11/03/2013

I do not know whether the quotes around the phrase in the letter "'directed to workforce needs'” is meant to imply that Senator Appel actually used the phrase; neither do I know what else the quotes in the letter could mean, but the phrase "'directed to workforce needs'" does not appear in Senator Appel's letter. There is no reference to "directed" or "undirected" education, only to direction of the "Board of Regents and higher education stakeholders," a proper function of state government in authority over and with responsibility for state institutions, whether or not one agrees with the directions given. Most schools are in the business of directing the student's education. Without such direction, there is little need for a school. There is a reference in Senator Appel's letter, to students' need for a "clear, direct and efficient path" to a degree. Whether a student takes that direct path is up to the student; most seem to take an at least somewhat meandering path, often taking six or more years to a baccalaureate.

46) Comment by nimby? - 11/03/2013

postscript56 , my apologies if I've misjudged your sarcasms intent ....

47) Comment by SuzanneMS - 11/03/2013

Another beautifully written letter. Sadly, many of the readers are locked in a box of their own making; in that little box, monetary value is the only value they recognize. In their little box, being "rich" means having a lot of money; they are incapable of recognizing what really makes life "rich." They are like the dwarves in Lewis' "The Last Battle." Unfortunately for Louisiana, this describes nearly all of the legislature and the Board of Supervisors.

48) Comment by prbeav - 11/03/2013

Each person should spend their life in the difficult work of discovering his/her preferences. Fortunate is the person, young or old, who perceives that option and makes certain his/her education and subsequent endeavors lead to personal fulfillment. Typically, service to others seems attractive, and left alone, that's where they gravitate. Personal economic viability is a given for the people who manage to survive society's misguided indoctrination. One of the most menacing, sinister ideas in President Obama's second inaugural speech is, "Together we determined that a modern economy requires . . . schools and colleges to train our workers." No No No; we must reform our education system to focus on preparing--coaching--our youth for the noble task of discovering their preferences on how to spend their some fifty years of adulthood, which is on the leading edge of some seven trillion man-years of accumulated understanding. Thank you, Ms Stravinska for another valuable letter. It's too bad the Muslim "slunk away." Maybe someday it will be true that the Muslim appreciated your daughter's awareness.

49) Comment by postscript56 - 11/03/2013

nimby? - Not sure how my comments here are "profiling" since textbooks in use in some Louisiana classrooms (private religious schools, not public schools) contain all the "facts" I listed. Nor did I single out any group you could say I was "profiling," unless it was all Louisianians. You have a guilty conscience or something?

50) Comment by DMJ - 11/03/2013

Here, here. I think John Adams said it best: one should have two educaions- one to teach a person how to make a living, the other to teach them how to live.

51) Comment by tradewinns - 11/03/2013

here's one conservative's view. if your daughter can earn some type of living that does not make her a drain of society with her education, and she's happy with everything, more power to her. i wish her a wonderful, happy, healthy life. in EVERY society, that society places a value on evrything in that society. why do doctors earn more than ditchdiggers? both occupations are needed, one more than the other depending on your circumstances. are you ill or is it raining really hard? the number of positions for your daughter's education is limited by society's needs. that she speaks japanese is outstanding, there is always a need for translators by every business that has any dealings with japan. perhaps because you, and a few others in society, believe that what you term "culture" should be included in everyone's life is not held in wide esteem should give you pause that possibly you are in error. again, i hope your daughter is happy and remains so her entire life. she choose her career, i sincerely doubt she will ever become rich in it unless she decides to write books or something more acceptable/needed by society at large.

52) Comment by nimby? - 11/03/2013

postscript56 , Spudaroonski , thought you guys on the left didn't like profiling . sounds like you've got it all figured out , have your answers already . carry on ...

53) Comment by jwfiero - 11/03/2013

Oops. Sorry for the typos.

54) Comment by jwfiero - 11/03/2013

You gave a better voice to your concern thatnI could have done, Sarah. A real conservative would value what we used to call a "liberal education," designed to foster the whole person and broaden a student's cultural horizons. I remember well the concept of the "Renaissance Man," or "Person," if you will. If in the process of turning out drones to fit the needs of corporations, converting our universities into mere trade schools, we will, among other things, be more loudly ringing the death knell of democracy and further the dumbing down of America.

55) Comment by [e-mail] - 11/03/2013

Education after the 12th grade is a tool that each of us uses to further our own pursuits; if a person wants the traditional American university education with a wide range of instruction there's nothing wrong with that. If a person is in a hurry and wants specific instruction on a particular subject, then there's nothing wrong with that; either path is viable if it suits the student's needs. After all, education is for students, not colleges, universities, professors, etc.

56) Comment by Noel Hammatt - 11/03/2013

To Sarah Stravinska, thank you for a beautiful and thoughtful letter. For reasons I will get into in a moment, however, and as you well-know, The Advocate's placement of the term 'undirected' as they did in the headline will likely be lost on those like Steve Carter and Conrad Apel who both appear to have no use for, or perhaps merely no understanding of, the engagement of students in an education guided by the love of knowledge and understanding and beauty,and not merely the attainment of a test score, a higher grade, or a particular job. Their conversations and dictums in the legislature certainly give us no reason to believe that they can even comprehend why an education 'undirected' by their particular measures of meaning and "accountability" would be absurd. Your daughter's education helps us appreciate education for its own sake, as opposed to the banal "utilitarian" version of their view of the role of education. What is even more absurd, is that their view is shared by Chas Roemer and most of the purchased BESE members, where students are to be judged on an annual test, and not on the intrinsic value of their education. Please, Louisiana, save us from these misleading "leaders."

57) Comment by Spudaroonski - 11/03/2013

Great letter Sarah but I'm sure it will fall on deaf ears for our conservative brothers and sisters. You see conservatives believe that the purpose and only purpose for an education is to fill a need for our corporate overlords. They can't understand why the arts are a vitally important part of what it means to be human. They don't value art because they're not wired that way. They aren't creative or inquisitive and usually hold a simplistic view of the world and this is why they're conservatives. If they had an inkling of the value that art plays in our lives and the part it's played in civilization throughout history, well they would most likely be liberal and not conservative.

58) Comment by postscript56 - 11/03/2013

Thank you Sarah, for a great letter. You must be proud of your daughter. But you forgot you are living in a state where we teach creation in science class, that evolution isn't real but the Loch Ness monster might be, that young people in the 60s were Satan worshippers, that slaves were well treated (as if that makes up for being a slave), and that the KKK was a force for good in some communities. (All the aforementioned "facts" are found in private, religious school textbooks.) It's no wonder your daughter lives in Seattle.

59) Comment by potkcalb - 11/03/2013

Very well stated Sarah Stravinsky.