It has become de rigueur for those in the world of arts education (and theatre as a whole) to default to excuses as to why theatre (and the arts as a whole) is beneficial beyond the experience of art in order to justify its existence. It is understandable that, in a world where Common Core defines content, test scores define value, and grant applications for theatre projects demand making these connections, those who love and teach the arts will use whatever means necessary to make a case for their project. This is really a sad commentary on where we, as a society, place the arts in terms of importance.