Page 39 - Arts Management Magazine Iss 1
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The Ugly state of affairs. Wealthier school districts have developed robust
It is a sad fact that when times are tough, state governments music and arts programs and their students are reaping the re-
balance budgets by cutting funding to schools. Trying to man- wards every day. Less wealthy communities seem to be forgot-
age with less, struggling school districts then often reduce or cut ten. Ultimately, lower-income school districts must demand the
out fine arts programs entirely. That means far less, or no visual same fine arts opportunities for their children. To know chil-
arts, dance, drama, theater, or music programs whatsoever. As dren would benefit greatly from the arts and not figuring out
school districts struggle to meet academic standards and com- how to make it happen across all districts is just Bad.
ply with new Common Core requirements, fine arts programs
are no longer seen as much of a priority. This is particularly The Good
troublesome in low-income neighborhoods where at-risk stu- Luckily, nationwide, more and more communities are waking
dents no longer have access to the positive benefits of a struc- up to the importance of the fine arts in the educational setting.
tured immersion in the arts. Even a cursory search of the internet will yield endless “art
Lest we think “it’s no big deal,” here is what U.S. Education saved my life” and “music saved my life” hits all with similar
Secretary Arne Duncan said in the “Arts Education in Public themes – fine arts dramatically changed a person’s life for the
Elementary and Secondary Schools: 2009-10” report: better. Many of these personal testimonies are truly inspiring.
The hard evidence is out there as well. It has been shown in
“Low-income students who had arts-rich study after study that students that take music lessons at an early
experiences in high schools were more age have measurable boosted brain development. Even mod-
than three times as likely to earn a B.A. erate musical training early in life pays off. According to the
as low-income students without those ex- Journal of Neuroscience, the benefits can last a lifetime, even
periences. And the new study from the “many decades after training has stopped.” Arts classes have
National Endowment reports that low-in- been shown to help students develop better cognitive and com-
come high school students who earned munications skills, improve hand-to-eye coordination, and do
few or no arts credits were five times more better in math and science classes.
likely not to graduate from high school As Robert Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the
than low-income students who earned Arts noted in his interview, “Ultimately, kids do better on their
many arts credits.” SATs if the arts are part of their education.” So true. Accord-
ing to The College Board, students taking four years of music
The recent recession saw significant budget cuts that affected and arts classes scored almost 10% higher on their SAT scores
about 95% of all students in the United States. According to compared to students who had less than a half-year of music
US News and World Report, “funds have been cut in more and arts.
than 80 percent of U.S. school districts since 2008.” Although Since budgets remain strained, schools are looking to private
the government would have you believe that the economy is donors and non-profit organizations for the funds they need
recovering, many K-12 schools have yet to catch up. Especially to create or expand their arts programs. There are many ways
hard hit are the schools in lower-income neighborhoods. Based to help with both time and money. We encourage you to check
on the fact that fine arts programs have demonstrable positive out schools in your area to see if they are on track for offering
lasting effects on the development and success of children, to robust fine arts programs. Would you consider reaching out to
ignore them is nothing short of Ugly. the school superintendent or the local PTA to raise awareness
The Bad of the importance of the arts in children’s development? Could
Although claims that the recession is officially over abound, you mobilize influential people to help get the word out to the
most school districts have yet to seriously invest in, or reinstate, community and the local media?
their fine arts programs. In the year 2000, about 20% of all For the philanthropically-minded among you, we encourage
schools reportedly had theater and dance classes. Only a de- you to seek out specific schools that may need funds to boost
cade later, less than 5% of all schools had official theater and fine arts programs. Changing the mindset of an entire dis-
dance classes. Many districts are “keeping up appearances” by trict may take years, but if you could make a meaningful dif-
having regular core teachers add music or art classes to their ference in just one school, or even one classroom, you might
teaching responsibilities. However, learning art from non-artists start a domino-effect that will benefit everyone. If you do not
and music from non-musicians is hardly a robust and mean- have a specific school in mind but still want to be involved
ingful exposure to the arts. Couple this with the fact that in in championing fine arts for students, please contact us at our
most districts, cuts in sports programs are met with community website www.ArtsManagementMagazine.com so that we can
outcry, while fine arts continue to languish with little protest. make appropriate introductions.
The situation is definitely not balanced across the country. Nothing feels better than helping out a child in need – and when
When you are in an affluent area, you may never notice the sad that help yields a lifetime of benefits, that is just so Good. ?
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