I ask you to believe in the feeling of regret with which I write this, but these are perilous days in the public schools, where cuts that take out muscle along with the fat (music programs, athletics, dance, etc.), slice deep, and so in these times, foreign languages (all) are a luxury our children cannot afford. Practically speaking, there will be few real economic advantages gained by the time spent; true, there would be a real deficit in the average student's makeup by the loss of the pleasures of the Humanities. And yet, often people study these Humanities subjects later in life, after they have paid mortgages and fed families and in a mood of receptivity that deepens the understanding of Aristotle and Vergil. Classics teachers are fighting for their jobs, and with this I am sympathetic, but they do still have the benefit of their Latin and Greek and the other subjects they have mastered--no consolation for the loss of a job, but the arts and sciences they know may help them some. The true value of these ancient tongues is better appreciated with a bit of otium to spare. The vast majority of our children need more work in just plain English and correct thinking and writing and a few other real necessities.The "enriched classes" can only serve the social class of the children of those already economically " enriched." Face it (I have): of Latin and Greek we can say "C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre." And Education is at war.