<html> <body> A good idea, but a lot of work. Why not just gather some information and put it all in one place? For example, if one school has 100 pianos, one full time technician and a total piano maintenance budget of, say, $80,000. (salary included) and another school  also has 100 pianos, a contract technician and a piano maintenance budget of $30,000, I think people will figure it out. How many pianos and how much is spent on them each year will speak volumes. Giving schools a rating could get messy, especially if done by us. Aaron At 11:39 AM 8/25/2008, you wrote: <blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">This is an excellent idea.   My opinion, though, is that it would have more credibility coming from Larry than from the PTG CAUT.  Coming from him, it would have a better chance of appearing to be independent and unbiased.  Ratings from the CAUT group alone could project a self-serving appearance.   If you wanted to go a step deeper, you could have students and faculty take part in a survey every x years.   Ed Sutton's idea of the schools taking it and running with it is a good one.   Now where can we find a school that would earn a top ranking to start the ball running?   On the other hand, if schools know they are deficient, how would we get them to agree to participate?   Tanner <dl> <dd>----- Original Message ----- <dd>From: <a href="mailto:DCyr141833@aol.com">DCyr141833@aol.com</a> <dd>To: <a href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</a> <dd>Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2008 11:04 AM <dd>Subject: [CAUT] position announcements, etc <dd>Well, here's my 2 cents...... <dd>When Larry Fine came out with The Piano Book, he, in effect, was looking to educate the consumer, who then would know what to look for, and what questions to ask, which then put the manufacturers on notice, and in the end made the manufacturers more responsible for their end product.  Why can't something similar be done with schools of music?  I put this to Larry, asking if this was something he'd be interested in adding to his book.  He thought it was an excellent idea, but probably should be undertaken as a separate project, by CAUT.  His thoughts... <dd>My suggestion would be that CAUT should come up with -- to the extent reasonably possible -- precise, objective criteria for piano condition, maintenance, budget, etc. that music schools should ideally have, and then give each school a numerical rating based on those criteria.  These ratings, along with comments, could then be published and offered to music educators and others who influence student and parental decisions concerning choice of school to attend.  It could be updated every few years.  I would be interested in publishing such a book, or perhaps PTG would like to. <dd>I truly believe that the educated consumer - the music degree seeking  student and their parents - knowing what questions to ask, knowing what to look for, guided by some sort of "Handbook on Music Schools" in which could be "ratings" of schools according to CAUT guidelines - they will demand and cause more change among music schools, more quickly, than all of our foot-stomping, rants, and emails could ever do. <dd>All we need is someone willing to do the leg-work. <dd>  <dd>  <dd>Debbie Cyr <dd>Registered Piano Technician <dd>508-202-2862 cell <hr> <dd>It's only a deal if it's where you want to go. Find your travel deal <a href="http://information.travel.aol.com/deals?ncid=aoltrv00050000000047"> here</a>. </blockquote> <x-sigsep></x-sigsep> </dl> ------------------------------------------ Aaron Bousel Registered Piano Technician, Piano Technicians Guild abousel@comcast.net (413) 253-3846 (voice & fax)</body> </html>