I strongly agree especially with your idea concerning the gathering of statistics that show the importance/frequency of use Perl maintains in the workforce.

I attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, and because it is a 4-yr technical school, the primary focus of a CS degree is to understand the _theory_ behind programming, with the design that having understood the fundamentals, a student can go into the workforce and apply the concepts to any language, new or old. I think showing the relevance of Perl in the workforce, combined with a request that the education be geared (in certain aspects) towards real world applications, instead of just theory.

Your input is appreciated and will be incorporated in the final argument!