Public School Music Research Paper

1301.703
21 July. 2010

Sustaining the Song: Public School Music Programs Whether teaching a traditional folk song to village children on a lonely Caribbean island or rehearsing for a concert in a music hall buzzing with excitement, it is hard to dispute that music education has played an essential part in nearly every culture for centuries. Today, the very music that we so love is endangered of becoming extinct in our public schools. So before the last sorrowful note wanes hopelessly throughout abandoned music rooms across our continent, we must resolve with urgent fervor to further foster and finance music programs in public schools, in hopes that humanity’s rich, cultural heritage of music may be sustained into future generations.
Music education has had an enriching affect on the lives of students. By learning music at early ages children benefit greatly in their overall childhood development. Children gain a great deal -- in terms of self-esteem, expressiveness, and sheer pleasure -- from being active in as many of the arts as possible throughout their primary years (Peronne 1). As soon as children pick up their first instrument, or learn to sing their first song, it is clear that something is churning inside of their little heads. Becoming a musician not only teaches vital skills of discipline, it stretches the brain in unimaginable ways (Vork 1). In 2008, a personal study conducted in an international school in Panamá City, Panamá revealed that 10% of the 320 students enrolled were committed to private music studies. By the start of the following school year the number had increased to 20%. Of those 64 students, 95% spoke more than one language and were ranked amongst the top of their respective classes. Other studies In the United States are just as impressive. “A study of 237 second grade children used piano keyboard training and newly designed math software to demonstrate improvement in math skills. The group scored 27% higher on proportional math and fractions tests than children that used only the math software“ (qtd. in Nelson 1). From the elementary level through junior high school, students of music continue to excel straight into high school. Not only do students who study music do well in high school, but evidence found by the College Entrance Examination Board showed students in an arts appreciation class scored 63 points higher on verbal and 44 points higher on math than students with no arts participation (Hurley 3). There is also a treasure in knowing that throughout history some of our country’s most celebrated political figures were just as gifted musically as they were at political gab. Benjamin Franklin played different musical instruments; among them were the guitar and the violin, John Quincy Adams reportedly played the flute, American orator Patrick Henry played the flute and fiddle, Chester Arthur played the banjo, and Thomas Jefferson was said to have played the cello, clavichord, and the violin (Estrella 1). Even today, it is no surprise to find modern politicians who have a background in music. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [whose name stems from a musical phrase con dolcezza, translated as “with sweetness”] wanted to become a concert pianist before pursuing a degree in international relations and economics (Estrella 1). Furthermore, nearly everyone recalls watching a certain president belting out a saxophone solo during his inaugural ball. Former President Clinton spoke of the necessity for music education:
Learning improves in school environments where there are comprehensive music and arts programs. They increase the ability of young people to do math. They increase the ability of young people to read. And, most important of all, they 're a lot of fun (qtd. in Mark 5). The study of music in public schools simply keeps students out of trouble. If funders yank the money carpet out from under the feet of music departments, the resulting ripple effect can be quite devastating. A consultant for the Department of Public Instruction voices this frightening statistic: "Within two to three years, every school that cut arts showed a decrease in morale and attendance and an increase in vandalism and disruptions” (qtd. in Hurley 1). Could those who are in authority over funding be an eerie foreshadowing of “the hand that signed the paper felled a city” (Thomas 71)? It is quite obvious that music and all that it encompasses strikes a chord in the heart of our society. In a nationwide Gallup poll in 2003, 95% of Americans questioned felt that music education was essential to education and 80% responded that music education made a child smarter (Nelson 1). Furthermore, A new study released by the National String Project Consortium (NSPC) indicates that, just prior to the economic meltdown, the number of students playing string instruments had increased from 18 percent in 1997 to 29 percent in 2009 (Fate 1). So if the majority agrees that music education is essential to overall education and if some programs seem to be on the upstroke, then what is the problem?
In a forward to one of his sight-reading exercise books, legendary music educator Zoltán Kodály prophetically gauged the demise of music students when he emphatically wrote: We should perhaps be allowed to make an effort to help our musicians to become just as outstanding as our football players. The possibilities exist for we certainly possess abundant talent. But very few achieve the level of perfection, because there are many shortcomings in the fundamentals of music education, and because studies are abandoned much too early. (1)
Kodály confirmed what music teachers across the nations have been painfully experiencing, that music studies are being abandoned simply because of the lack of funding.
Since 1993, when legislators imposed revenue caps on public schools, school districts have been forced to make some hard decisions about ways they can cut back spending. Music and art programs were usually among the first to receive severe blows (Hurley 1). Over the years the importance of studying music has taken a back seat to so called core subjects. These core subjects are nearly immune to revenue caps and have become bases for critical assessments, “yet in the vast majority of primary-school settings, education in the arts is given very little time or left out altogether” (Peronne 1). Sadly, it seems that the cancerous, fund-draining cell has spread throughout cities and states from Maine to the borders of Mexico. Contrary to the National String Project Consortium’s poll on increasing string students, they have also found that ”66 percent of programs had reduced funding between the 2003 and 2008 academic years” (Fate 1). Schools are being blindsided by the erasing of funds from budget white-boards. Some administrations have even admitted that “the high cost of music instruction proved too much to bear in some school systems, especially those in which the rationale for arts education was not convincing to policy makers” (Mark 2). If money is not being allocated to music departments then where is
it going? A former Tennessee All-State choir member-turned athletics director admitted in a personal interview that, “In one season we added four additional new coaches to our football program just because we could.” When asked what subjects the new coaches taught he shamelessly snickered, “We made up classes for them.” This is unbelievable and extremely hard to stomach especially when contrasting it with what is going on in the north. In Milwaukee, the Westside Academy might actually be forced to return the $25,000 grant from VH1’s Save the Music program because there’s no full-time music teacher for the piano lab (Nelson 1). In addition to revenue controls, the recent Elementary and Secondary Education Act (often referred to as the No Child Left Behind law) imposed by the Bush administration has put music and art programs in rough shape and left with a dim future (Hurley 1). If the future of music in our public schools looks dim, then who will “rage against the dying of the light” (Thomas 128)? Amidst the fighting, pioneers have risen to voice their stance in order to save music education.
Advocacy for school music goes back at least to Lowell Mason, who persuaded the Boston School Committee to include music as a curricular subject in 1838...[later] boards of education began to accept the threefold rationale advocated in Boston in 1838—music as intellectually, morally, and physically good for children (Mark 1). Advocacy for music education has increased in recent decades and is steadily advancing in the effort to regain control of dwindling funds. Fortunately, professional arts education organizations, especially MENC [The National Association for Music Education], were already becoming effective in communicating their stories to those responsible for allocating precious funds (Mark 2). The battle has gone from the courts into the streets. Some communities are indeed fighting back with the auction idea and bake sales to save art, music and other programs in their schools (Nelson 1). Although many programs are taking a back seat to other subjects, defenders of music are committed in seeing lasting change happen. By providing key information to those in government, school administration, and the general community, music education advocates have gained recognition for music as part of the core curriculum (Mark 1). Because of the pressures from the outcry of supporters “the federal government established the National Standards for Arts Education” (Mark 2).
This was a monumental step for music education advocates and students nationwide. Finally, musicians could breath a little easier knowing that the government was listening. Now that the government is listening, how can pressure be applied to assure the sustaining of music education? A couple of calls to parents who are passionate about music as a part of their children’s education can get them inspired to lead the charge locally (Crisis 1). From personal experience, it is very difficult to restrain a music lover, especially when their children are involved. As the American Music Conference editorial writers encourage, “a handful of impassioned citizens can lead the charge to assure music education opportunities for hundreds of children – your optimism, support and determination in the face of these challenges can make a big difference” (Crisis 1). It is crucial for the preservation of our human culture, for the rhythm of life to pulse con brio into the next several generations, that music programs are continually funded in public educational institutions. “For this reason it is especially important that parents encourage and support their children 's art activities” (Peronne 1). Without musicians there would be no music, without music the world and the future would be silent. “The better a musician is the easier it is for him to draw others into a happy, magic, circle of music. Thus he will serve the great cause of helping music to belong to everyone” (Kodály 2).

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