Save the Music Programs

Schools across the nation are tightening their school budgets, making them cut certain programs. However, when these budget cuts come along, one of the first things that is cut is the music program to enable the school district to make room for "necessary" classes. But why cut the music program when it has been shown that music helps develop better social skills, leadership qualities, and improve academics?

All over the country, school districts are facing tight budgets that are causing the districts to cut non-academic programs. These non-academic programs that are being cut are mainly the music programs in public schools across the nation. According to studies by the Gallup industry, "Budget cuts and shifting priorities have placed the music programs in more danger than ever. Already, up to 28 million American students do not receive an adequate music education, and cuts in education funding are either pending or have been enacted in more than half the states nationwide" (Salvestrini). School districts are looking at what subjects they consider to be "core subjects," and in most school districts the music program is not fitting their definition, which is why the music program is one of the first subjects to be cut. The school districts are looking to build more classrooms for science and math courses, as well as decrease class sizes. In order to do this without having to add on to the school building, the school districts look for what they find to be a beneficial class. Therefore, the music education program is an area where the school district can achieve their goals by cutting that program out. Studies have shown that the music education program is very beneficial to students. This is why schools across the nation should save the music, so the future students have the opportunity to be involved, improvement in the students' academics, students having more self-discipline, and the development of the students' social skills. Because of these benefits, organizations outside of the school are trying to save the music, such as, VH1 and supportmusic.com.

These budget cuts are not only affecting the students of today, but they also have a huge effect on the future students who may not even have the option of participating in a music program. In one of the recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reports, "only 25 percent of eighth graders nationwide had the opportunity to take a music class" (Music). Now these budget cuts are not allowing the school district to decide, but the voters have the say in what goes on in the school district by way of their tax money. Elizabeth Nesoff, an author for the Christian Science Monitor, wrote an article about the budget falling in the August 2003 edition. She goes into greater depth, than the article about music education by implying that, "A lack of cohesive community concern for education and a greater focus on individual interests as part of the problem, namely that people without children are not always interested in funding school programs. It's getting much more difficult to convince people that musicÐ'... for some people is as important as tax relief for a lot of people"(Nesoff). Parents that have children in the music program should do what it takes to keep the program going, so that the future students can have the same opportunity. "Music education programs get cut because decent people are trying to make tough decisions in hard times. If people want ongoing music education in school, they have to let the policymakers know how much music education programs contribute to their kids every day of the school year" (Nesoff). These budget cuts have a big impact on the educational opportunities of the children of today and the children of tomorrow. "You can't cut music without cutting something important out of our kids' lives. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to see that where there's no quality of education, there's probably not a music program" (Nesoff). Therefore, the district shouldn't cut the music program for the students today or tomorrow.

Being an active participant in a music program helps students greatly with their academic studies. Nesoff implies that "Without music education, many fear a bleak future for children. The real issue is that we will have a society that is impoverished, that doesn't have the cultural roots or the educational and discipline benefits that come from music education"(Nesoff). This quote states that without music education our society may lack academic improvement. Even the fundamentals of music have been proven to improve a child's knowledge. An article called "Fun with Languages Responds to the Need for Music Education at Home and In the Classroom" backs up what Nesoff had to say by stating the fundamentals that music may improve in the students' skills in our society. "Music helps children to learn math. When children learn rhythm, they are learning ratios, fractions, and proportions" (Fun). The music program not only improves the students' math skills, but also their verbal skills. Students can learn from different foreign languages and cultural difference by the variety of music piece the instructor chooses. These skills help out on the verbal part of academics. Along with improving a child's knowledge and understanding of their school subjects, members of the music program that have taken the SAT or ACT have scored higher than those students not in a music program. According to supportmusic.com, a public service to help out the music education implies that, "Students with coursework/experience in music performance and music appreciation scored higher on the SAT: students in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math, and students in music appreciation scored 63 points higher on the verbal and 44 points higher on the math, than did students with no arts participation" (Support Music). This quote shows that students who are part of a music program have a big advantage over those students who do not participate in the music program, mostly in the Math and English classes. The long-term benefits of these advantages is that the participate can carry these math and reading skills with them in the future, because it is important to know how to read and do math skills in life, such as the work place, finances, and everyday life situations.

Along with having an advantage in classes, students that are a part of the music program tend to be more disciplined. An article by VH1 Save the Music states, "Researchers have found that children involved with music education are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college, and are less likely to be involved with gangs and