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Khalil Hill
CAS 138T
Dr. Veena Raman
21 April 2014

Music Education: Falling on Deaf Ears?
Music is something that the world would be incredibly dull without. People may
not think about it all of the time, but music is present in our lives in many situations. In
fact, most people use or listen to music so much that they do not even notice it anymore.
Unfortunately, many education systems fail to see the many benefits of music, and even
choose to cut funding from music programs to stay within their budgets. However,
music is very important to the lives of people, and it is essential to keep these programs
alive in schools.
Ever since the recession that started back in 2007, there has been a rapid decline
in funding to schools all across the United States. As a result, many schools were forced
to cut funding from many different programs in order to stay within their budgets. For
example, states have cut per-student spending by as much as 23% since the recession
that took place 5-6 years ago (Funding). Since music is deemed as a luxury for
students by many administrations in America, it is usually one of the first areas to
receive cuts in funding. The terrible thing about this is that in certain cases, school
boards will take away funding from music programs just to continue supplementing
athletic programs with football being the most common target. What the people in
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charge of these decisions dont understand is that music education is just as if not more
beneficial to students than athletics. For example, while music and athletics both boost
teamwork abilities in students, music also increases language development and skills in
other areas that athletics do not (Benefits). "Marching band in particular is the savior
for people who may or may not be athletic. (Importance) It is statements like this that
truly show the importance of musical programs to students who may not be the best at
sports. Secondary schools in particular are supposed to give students the opportunity to
explore a multitude of different areas, and without music, they would be missing a large
contributor to that variety. There are many different areas within music to explore such
as instrumental, vocal, theatre, music technology, composition, and many other fields
that are all begging for students to get involved in.
If something is not done soon to save the musical arts in schools, the programs
will continue to get smaller and smaller until eventually they are completely phased out.
Teachers and students all over the country are taking action against this threat by
joining organizations like NAfME that are doing everything in their power to make sure
children dont miss the chance to join the life changing experience that is the musical
world. Its also worth noting that if music is allowed to fade out in schools, there would
undoubtedly be a reduction in the amount of people who go on to become famous
musicians and vocalists. Even many of todays famous artists like Lady Gaga were music
majors when they went to school. It would be a fine assumption to say that her
participation in music education put her on the right path to becoming famous (Gaga).
Even Thomas Sdhof, who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine, credits his success to
participation in music (Success). So, music has benefits for students of all interests. If
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more people do not take action, schools will continue to be in danger of becoming dull
and music-less.
It is surprising that so many school systems are so ready to get rid of music
programs because music and music education offer so many benefits to students. Music
is known to help learning in a large number of ways such as focusing concentration,
increasing attention, enhancing memory, and adding an element of fun to whatever
activity that may be taking place (Integrating). Joining musical groups like marching
band, choir, and orchestra also offer students the sense of being part of something
bigger than themselves. This helps establish students teamwork related abilities which
are not only useful in school but also in the workplace. Studies have also shown that
students who are involved in the music programs of their schools continually
outperform students who arent on standardized tests like the SATs and ACTs (Why).
One could also make the argument that having more music in life makes people happier
as well. With environments like high school which have the capability of being so
stressful to students, music offers itself as a stress reliever which also builds many
cognitive skills in the process (Benefits). With all of these benefits which seem to be
obvious, it is a wonder that school systems are so ready to rid themselves of the music
programs. Research by the Department of Education states, Students taking courses in
music performance and music appreciation scored higher in the SAT than students with
no arts participation. Music performance students scored 53 points higher on the verbal
and 39 points higher on the math. Music appreciation students scored 61 points higher
on the verbal and 42 points higher on the math. In the end, school districts are hurting
themselves since students involved in music contribute the highest test scores, and they
also contribute positively to the image of the schools.
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The current state of music education in the U.S. may sound very morbid, but
music is still very alive and can be made stronger than before as long as people are
willing to put in the effort required. The first step towards recovery is awareness. Much
of the problem comes from the fact that most people who dont participate in musical
activities do not even know that the programs are in danger in the first place. So, people
involved with these activities should hold more public awareness campaigns so that
more people can be informed about the problem and take more effective action as a
result. This issue cannot be resolved if people are not informed and motivated to fix it.
Many schools across the country already have public speakers, and some teachers even
say a few words about the struggling music programs during concerts and other musical
events. These two methods will help us sustain music programs because parents who go
to see their children perform become aware of the dire situation. Then, parents and
students can work together to take bigger steps like writing to the school board, raising
money themselves, or even signing petitions.
However, large changes to the music education field has to come from the people
who are in charge of allocating funds. The administrations of schools have to be made
aware of what music does for their students because those benefits are being tossed by
the wayside in schools everywhere. The biggest, current goal of the music programs is to
not get any smaller than they are right now. It would be hard to say that funding should
be cut from other places and given to the music programs because that would imply that
music is more important than these other areas. That claim is very subjective, but it
would be acceptable to make claims to music being just as important as the other
programs like athletics. So, the best policy to take in regards to this issue is one of pure
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equality. Instead of looking to singular programs and cutting large chunks out of them,
it would be more beneficial if there are small cuts from all of the extra-curricular
activities. The reason is that it would definitely be fairer, and no group of students would
feel like they are being cheated while other activities remain untouched. There is not a
single school in the country that could not benefit from this universal idea. After all, this
country was built on the idea of equality, and it could not hurt to take that idea and
implement it into this problem. This policy would also prevent schools from playing
favorites which occurs so often in secondary schools. The idea of school boards playing
favorites is not a new one as many administrations choose to prioritize competitive
sports over the arts. At Stanford, the Board of Trustees chose to approve of a new gym
for athletes instead of a new space for the music and drama departments to work in
(Prioritize). This would not be such a problem if the old gym was not in good shape or
if the music facilities were. Stories like this show that there is definitely favoritism
shown to sports in many different schools.
Once this plan has been fully implemented in schools, people will begin to start
seeing the advantages of keeping the music programs alive in those schools. First of all,
it is a very attainable goal. This policy is not asking for schools to demand more funding
from the government so they can just give money to the music programs. Instead, it only
focuses on keeping these programs healthy so that students can continue to enjoy them
throughout their education. Also, not all of these programs will be incredibly large and
as a result wont demand as much attention as programs in bigger schools may.
According to the Centre of Arts Education, spending on musical instruments and art
equipment fell by a shocking 68% from 2006 to 2009 (Falls). If schools are able to
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somehow get money for their football team to get new uniforms every so often, some of
that money could be used to support the music programs by getting new uniforms for
the band, helping pay for new equipment, or help pay for music educators. After a time
period of simply sustaining the music programs, schools can then focus on making them
better once their financial situations are not so dire. Another reason that this policy
would work is we as a country are trying very hard to climb out of our recession. The
main reason for the music programs in schools being in danger is that schools are forced
to reduce spending due to the less than stellar state of the economy. America did lose
trillions of dollars from 2007 to 2009, but has made a good recovery from 2009 to
present day (Trillions). The Great Recession supposedly ended in June of 2009, and it
is about time that schools start restoring the programs there were hurt as a result.
In addition, it is very difficult to locate disadvantages in this plan because it isnt
prioritizing music in particular, and it has proved effective in schools that are willing to
try. For example, Butler Senior High School has both large sports programs and a large
music program. In the past, funding has been cut from the music program because the
administration was afraid to cut funding from anywhere else due to push back from
parents. The problem with this was they failed to realize that pushback will occur no
matter what program funding is cut from. So, anytime a music teacher would retire or
leave the district, the school board refused to replace them as an attempt to save money.
This former policy hurt the schools music program greatly, and what was going to
happen to it was a mystery to everyone. However, due to the combined efforts of parents
and students in the district, the administration changed its ways and then decided to
implement a policy which is similar to the one stated above. Eventually, the school
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reached a point of Equilibrium where all of the extra-curricular programs were able to
remain in equal standing in regards to where funding was taken from in the event that
cuts had to be made. Everyone in the school seemed to be happier with this plan because
it no longer felt like certain activities were favored over the others. If this policy is given
a chance, the same opportunity can be given to every school that is having funding
issues, and the musical programs of those schools can be spared.
The musical education programs in schools are dying due to budget cuts. Cutting
funds from the music programs may seem like a quick and easy solution to financial
crises, but schools are missing out on many benefits that these programs have to offer.
So, it would benefit schools everywhere to implement an equality policy that emphasizes
the sustaining of these programs. Then, the music programs could continue offering
what they have to offer and schools wouldnt become over centralized with one activity
in particular. It is hard to make this big of a change nationwide, but if parents and
students are well informed and willing to fight for these programs, it is very possible to
save them.






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Works Cited
Dilfiore, Vince. The importance of music education in schools. CNN. n.p. 30
March 2014. Web
NAfME Advocacy Web Site http://advocacy.nafme.org/. 27 March 2014. Web
Morgan, Johnny. Gaga. New York: Sterling, 2011. Print.
Brown, Laura Lewis. The Benefits of Music Education. PBS. 28 March 2014.
Web
Brewer, Chris. Music and Learning: Integrating Music in the Classroom Johns
Hopkins School of Education. 28 March 2014. Web
Why Music Education?. NAfME Success for Society. 29 March 2014. Web
Nobel Prize Winner Credits Music Education For His Success. NafME Advocacy
Blog. 5 April 2014. Web
Leachman, Michael and Chris Ma Most States Funding Schools Less Than
Before the Recession. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. 15 April 2014. Web
The Failure to Prioritize the Arts at Stanford. Stanford University Blog. 13 April
2014. Web
College-Bound Seniors National Report: Profile of SAT Program Test Takers,
The College Entrance Examination Board, Princeton, New Jersey. 17 April 2014. Web
Isidore, Chris. America Lost Trillions CNN. 17 April 2014. Web
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Funding for art supplies, music instruments falls by 68% at city schools. Center
For Arts Education. 16 April 2014. Web