This is my take on the issue. I think what the teacher meant was that education shouldn't be commoditized. I think she was reacting to your point that skills learned in school should be marketable. In her point of view, a holistic education is necessary for the development of a child as a person, rather than a cog in the machinery of modern society. However, understanding her intentions, I would argue that the 'holistic' education system tends to turn children into followers and cogs rather than people who actually know themselves and work to maximize their potential. There is something positive to be said about general, holistic education but there needs to be an identification of the child's strengths and passions and an effort to turn that into something of worth. However, if the government or some powerful body tried to give that experience to every child, the personal nature of true education would be lost with the attempt to scale something so subjective. So, I actually agree that good education should not be commoditized, but because 'good ' education cannot be mass produced, average, or slightly above average education for the masses should be provided for by a powerful body. And if you haven't guessed it, parents need to be the ones to provide their kids with true education, granted that they've worked on developing themselves before deciding to have a kid.