Matt Morrise (pronounced like Maurice) sent the following letter (response sent from mail@cartalk.com).

Dear Click and Clack,

I am glad to see that some credible, nationally prominent figures such as yourselves have launched a discussion about the education of children by asking the right question, namely, What is an educated person? You are right on when you say it is to teach civility (as opposed to teaching kids how to use a mouse, which is what we are so often told).

I humbly suggest the following list of goals for education (pilfered, of course, from a Web site:

• The pursuit of truth.
• The comprehension of great ideas.
• The generation of new ideas.
• The discovery of meaning.
• The use of good judgment. The exercise of emotional maturity.
• The development of wisdom.
• or some nice subset thereof.

Unfortunately none of these can be quantified using a standardized test, and they are thus unlikely to be considered worthy of attention by public educators.

I know you guys are busy, but if you want to see a school that teaches civility as well as the above, go visit (if they will let you in) the Lexington Waldorf School in Lexington, Massachusetts.

You guys are great,

Matt

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