Why Johnny Can't (Sight) Read
The big news this week is that a $24 billion budget shortfall in the state of California may lead to a $680 million cutback in public-school funding for the 2009–2010 school year. As California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told the state legislature on June 2, the state is “dead broke.” As a result, local school boards already are planning larger class sizes, staffing reductions, and fewer sports, arts, and music programs. Once again strings programs are caught in the crossfire.
The budget axe also may result in the elimination of Cal Grants for college-bound students as well as cuts in classes. California is not alone in this mess. Other states around the nation have indicated that their own budget problems could lead to similar measures.
Of course, parents, educators, and students are no strangers to this situation. Cutbacks to music programs are as ubiquitous in public schools as squeaky desks and cardboard pizza. The topic even served as a plot point in the 1996 film Mr. Holland’s Opus, in which actor Richard Dreyfuss portrayed Glenn Holland, a cranky composer who finds fulfillment as the director of a high-school music program.
The film helped spawn widespread support of music in the public schools, which had gotten an added boost 18 months earlier when the federal government released a National Standards for Arts Education report that put music on a par with other core curriculum. Still, music programs continued to struggle.
A 2004 Music for All Foundation report titled “The Sound of Silence” singled out California for its especially low level of support for public-school music instruction: a 41 percent drop in students receiving instrumental instruction between 1999–2004 vs. a six percent increase in overall student enrollment.
The big news in January 2006 was that Gov. Schwarzenegger had proposed to restore $100 million to arts and music programs. But that same year a Music for All blog concluded that, as a society, we hadn’t learned our lessons from Mr. Holland’s Opus—in bad times, cutbacks in music program were the first on the table; in good times, advocates grew complacent.
What can we do? Educate school boards, superintendents, and other elected officials who may not be aware of the enriching benefits of these programs. Speak out at concerts to win support for public music programs. Write about it in a program note. Blog about it. Ink a letter to editor. Be informed, be tireless.
Learn more at musicforall.org/resources/advocacy/resources, where you can download a SupportMusic Community Action Kit.
Share your own experiences with budget cuts to local string programs—and your action plan for solutions—at the String Teachers Forum.
The budget axe also may result in the elimination of Cal Grants for college-bound students as well as cuts in classes. California is not alone in this mess. Other states around the nation have indicated that their own budget problems could lead to similar measures.
Of course, parents, educators, and students are no strangers to this situation. Cutbacks to music programs are as ubiquitous in public schools as squeaky desks and cardboard pizza. The topic even served as a plot point in the 1996 film Mr. Holland’s Opus, in which actor Richard Dreyfuss portrayed Glenn Holland, a cranky composer who finds fulfillment as the director of a high-school music program.
The film helped spawn widespread support of music in the public schools, which had gotten an added boost 18 months earlier when the federal government released a National Standards for Arts Education report that put music on a par with other core curriculum. Still, music programs continued to struggle.
A 2004 Music for All Foundation report titled “The Sound of Silence” singled out California for its especially low level of support for public-school music instruction: a 41 percent drop in students receiving instrumental instruction between 1999–2004 vs. a six percent increase in overall student enrollment.
The big news in January 2006 was that Gov. Schwarzenegger had proposed to restore $100 million to arts and music programs. But that same year a Music for All blog concluded that, as a society, we hadn’t learned our lessons from Mr. Holland’s Opus—in bad times, cutbacks in music program were the first on the table; in good times, advocates grew complacent.
What can we do? Educate school boards, superintendents, and other elected officials who may not be aware of the enriching benefits of these programs. Speak out at concerts to win support for public music programs. Write about it in a program note. Blog about it. Ink a letter to editor. Be informed, be tireless.
Learn more at musicforall.org/resources/advocacy/resources, where you can download a SupportMusic Community Action Kit.
Share your own experiences with budget cuts to local string programs—and your action plan for solutions—at the String Teachers Forum.
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