Music In Schools Month: Budget Cuts In Schools

Education is pushed in schools today. Students are expected to have high test scores and also endure seven or eight consecutive hours of classes every day with hours of homework to work on at home. Where there are high test scores, there is money for the school. However, when there is less money for the school to operate and pay faculty, there are budget cuts. The fine arts programs often receive the bad end of the cuts, especially the music programs. Considering that students who have or have had music education or participated in music programs have more positive effects, as in more active in school activities and higher test scores, than students without music, schools should recognize music education and programs are cut from the

When funding is low, the fine arts programs tend to be the first out. She also quotes another author:

In a 2012 article on “Music In Schools Month,” Sarah Randolph stated that ”music programs nationwide are in danger. State and local legislators are attempting to make up for funding shortfalls in this difficult economy by cutting education budgets, which can place school music at risk. Fewer schools are hiring music teachers because music programs are cut. Very little is being done at the university level to combat the problems facing our schools.” (Slaton)

There is more money being spent in the economy and funding in schools is decreases. There are accommodations that have been made to help to keep but the changes are not working well. With more students per teacher, students would not receive the best learning experience due to excess students. Slaton states,

One such accommodation has been to increase the number of students each educator teaches. This means that each teacher is in charge of a larger number of students, decreasing the quality of the learning and the number of teachers employed… This drastically reduces the number of students who are able to participate in music programs within their schools … When music and other arts programs are cut, the entire society is affected

However, like everything in the world, there are good and bad effects. Some of the pros have already been stated. Middle and high school level students have a higher level of math proficiency, especially students from the lower class. The students engage in teamwork with the ensemble participated in, whether part of an orchestra or a choir. This can help build people skills and also performance skills (Catterall). According to Education Through Music (ETM)’s Peter Pauliks, “We teach music because it teaches kids to think. We believe it also improves self-esteem and confidence, but we put our energies into highlighting the cognitive development and transferrable skills students learn in the music classrooms” (Block) Music makes students or whoever is reading the the music think, because reading music involves many parts of the brain. According to George Olive, a high school senior and pianist, told a Springfield, Missouri News Leader “Music education has been a big pan of who I am, and it is also one of the first thing to get cut when funding is on the ropes” (Battling Music Education Cuts). One con is that music teachers tend to be against other teachers and about music first (Catterall), and the reduced funding in schools. Music education is more than just leaching students