Principal Anne : As the principal of a 6-10 arts and science school (which is also an IB school) I applaud the idea that the arts balance the sciences to produce balanced and globally aware citizens. Our students are the proof of the pudding!

Linda Berghoff : In addition to this interview...I'd like to hear also about how arts programs are being cut in colleges around the country.

joe : Without attention to GDP how do we pay for education? Nazis were big on rituals, music, parades, meetings, propaganda, and the media. Modern Americans are saturated with TV, ipods, games, music,... In part this is responsible for our declining economy.

aleta : This is an important subject to be discussing. As a middle school teacher in a very diverse school, I have seen shop and home ec classes dropped, art classes become fewer, and technology, testing, and data talk expand. I agree with Mark Sloaka that democracy demands a thinking and creative citizenry, as well as one with skills to earn a living. Thanks for the interview.

dion ikomi : Having recently been enrolled in a secondary education teacher certification program, I was less than enthralled to be informed that among the main, if not THE main, focus of my state's certified/licensed public school educator is the "Americanization" of the student. Isn't that exactly the same thing as making sure that "we're well on the way to producing a nation of employees not citizens." ?

Gary R. Baker : How is Mark Slouka's essay similar to John Dewey's Democracy and Education?

Ms. T : Regarding what Joe said... "Modern Americans are saturated with TV, ipods, games, music,... " I'd like to point out that there is a difference between arts and entertainment. It is due to the lack of quality arts education that most art is seen as entertainment.

Darleen : I agree with the author, we need to examine why we teach what we teach. This parallels the book I am reading "Empire of Illusion, The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle" by Chris Hedges.

Pat Vozab : I went to a liberal arts college, majoring in history. Even then, people would ask what I was going to DO with history. Well, once I found out I didn't like teaching it, I never did much of anything with it, yet I never regretted my choice. I had this notion of enjoying my education for its own sake and did not want to be pushed into something just for a job. I also recall many of the liberal arts electives I took as being especially meaningful. I'm sure my lifelong interest in reading from a wide variety of topics was shaped by my liberal arts college education. I agree with the author that, unfortunately, this is not held in high esteem today.

rachael : great interview - it made me want to buy harpers and read the piece - which i plan to do today. getting my masters in art ed; in one of my classes we just spoke to the ? of how we can develop curriculum thoughtfully when the idea of what a school's purpose is keeps morphing. why are we still on an agrarian schedule?? are so many of us still farming? how can we reform schools in a way that doesn't make teachers and principals shudder at the very thought?? and how can that reform place the humanities on equal footing w/ math/science?

van : Interesting and tough to comment on in a brief space. Forcing people to be uncomfortable by reading something of which they have no interest or strong emotional feelings, yet then denouncing an individual for listening to someones viewpoint (RUsh Limbaugh) assuming they are a schill for the republican party sounds somewhat closed minded to me. Seems as though he wants to teach one way and live by another.

elait : Am in the middle of a somewhat parallel and certainly sympathetic work by Derrick Jensen; 'Walking on Water'(2003) - smartly conversational and well worth searching out.

Omnifarious : I have a response to Mr. Slouka's article that I've posted here: http://omnifarious.livejournal.com/382893.html

Amy Lemmer : Wonderfully subversive! I live in West Sonoma County Ca.which is fairly wealthy and very liberal, still parents are very concerned with how their children will make a living.The value of education for learning to think, for learning about History and Mythology, so they can see Americas mythology and the history that brought us to where we are is to easily devalued.When consumerism and profit trumps everything citizens become objects in a kind of machinery, civic knowledge actually becomes a problem, people begin to question the status quo when they are well educated.