I don't know if they're still as common in the classrooms of the States today as they were when I was a kid, but the autoharp was and perhaps still is a wonderful instrument for the classroom. I've had one in our apartment for perhaps twenty years, during which time I've lost and found the tuner numerous times. Today I know where the tuner is, but the autoharp is so out of tune, and falling apart, that having the tuner isn't going to make much of a difference. I'm not sure that I know where the autoharp is, so why keep an essentially useless object?