The comparison was intended to reflect the difference in pay rate alone between teaching IT and advanced computer courses versus teaching other types of classes; it was not meant to comment on the quality of the education.

As an online instructor of college-level English Composition courses for more than 4 years – and thanks, I believe, to NCLB – I am presented with classes that contain a fair number of students who cannot form a written sentence, let alone an entire expository essay. Also – and, I believe, in response to this fact – recent large-scale studies of employers have shown that “Professional Communication” skills is a top priority.

It is the devaluation of this skill, as you have emphasized in your article by calling it “fluff,” that has resulted in an explosion of alarmingly low literacy rates. There is an art and a science behind written communication – whether it is a how-to, persuasive, or other style of writing – and I would have expected more respect from GetEducated.com.