Persuasive Essay On Arts Education

Section Two: History: Since public schools across the country have faced budget cuts in the past decade and a half, a common cost-cutting measure is to lessen the funding for arts education, prioritizing what are deemed more essential subjects such as math, reading, and science. Yet in fact, the current iteration of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, also known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, lists that the arts are among the core academic subjects, requiring all schools to enable all students to achieve in the arts and reap all the benefits of a comprehensive arts education. Yet the economically prioritized curriculum is still draining the sources from these imperative programs leaving instruments, paintbrushes, and other artistic pieces in closets to collect dust, because no one will be there to teach or use them. Most impacting in the history of

All around the United States, art programs are being cut out of the budget in public schools. The arts include dance, band, chorus, theatre, film, drawing, painting, photography and literary arts. Some school board members feel these art programs are not necessary and do not benefit the students in any way. Elementary, middle, and high school students are forced to quit their passion and feel that their talents are not supported by their schools. Although many are not aware, there is a strong connection between arts education and academic achievement. Unfortunately, due to budget cuts in many public schools, the art classes are first on the list to be cut. It is important that the students, parents and teachers

Many would argue that sports have a greater importance compared to the arts. Not only this, but many would say that art is not important enough to have a place in public schooling. However, those who have this mindset do not understand the countless amount of benefits that arts education has in an everyday student's life. Art education refers to education in music, dance, the visual arts, and theater. The engagement of students in the arts are essential to every student's educational career. However art programs always seem to come short in funding and this can later negatively impacts a student’s academic career. Budget cuts would be defined as the act of reducing budgeted expenditures. Budget cuts can come about due to a decreasing amount of money used to split among various school programs. The board members of school districts are constantly trying to get more resources. However, in the end, there is not enough money to cover for so many teachers, supplies, and programs. As budget cuts arise, the arts are almost always immediately targeted. The budget cuts would cut down funds for art supplies, musical instruments, and art teachers. In addition to funds that order to hire art organizations for programs which provide arts education services for students. Many public schools are struggling with budget cuts, resulting in the continued elimination of art programs across school districts throughout the nation. Due to budget constraints, fewer schools offer art classes today. Due to the fact that arts education is infrequently seen as a number one priority in public schools, there is little funding put into place and because of the diminishing amount of art programs, students are being deprived of the benefits that arts education can provide for them academically and non-academically.

In today’s school systems, art and music classes are not mandatory to be taught. This makes them very vulnerable to budget cuts in struggling schools. It is estimated that more than eighty percent of schools nationwide have experienced cuts to their budgets since 2008 (Metla). Every child in America deserves a complete education, and a complete education includes the arts. Due to budget cuts, many students do not receive instruction in art and music and therefore do not receive a full education. Music and art classes in schools are just as important as core classes and should not be subject to budget cuts.

What is one of the things that most people are accustomed to? Something that has been a part of their daily life. There are many things but what I am referring to is school. School has been around for hundreds of years. Whether it was to learn about religion or the mandatory classes we take now in the 21st century, many of us have been advised to go to school. It has changed a lot over the years and the system is still trying to improve how they could better educate their students in the future. Now, after going through many levels of school, people question themselves: why did I learn all of this? They question why they couldn’t learn more about taxes, buying a house or the important aspects when you get a car. School has become a

Colleges are struggling to adapt to society’s changing requirements for adults entering the work force. John Fawell laments this change and states that humans intrinsically desire to learn more for the purpose of knowing more. However, the focus has shifted away from this and has become more career-oriented. This shift is not well supported in the current college system. The education system is aware of this change and some have modified their programs, but they are too narrow and a broad college education is lost. Even though it has become almost mandatory in society, a college degree does not prepare students for a real-world work environment and is not necessary for most occupations. Many, such as lawyers or doctors, do require further education and a system that instructs them while also training the majority of the workforce would be an improvement.

The cost of college tuition is continually on the rise and has placed many burdens on high school students as well as their families. Some of the burdens that are placed are a result of parents putting pressure on their children to earn scholarships. Some of the burden is a result of students putting pressure on themselves to earn scholarships. Then, there is the burden of high college debt once the student graduates. Is this pressure really helping our students or is it hurting them? The bottom line is college tuition is skyrocketing out of control and something must be done before it destroys our families and our children.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave $700,000 to the University of New Hampshire to study methane gas emissions from dairy cows, (cow burps). They are using the research to make organic farms more financially competitive with general farms. The main goal is for the people at the University of New Hampshire, to create a computer model that measures the amount of greenhouse gases an organic dairy farm produces. The conclusion of the project was, "Cows emit most of their methane through belching, only a small fraction from flatulence," said project investigator Ruth Varner. The government is taking away money for the arts, in order to support things like cow burps. I believe the U.S. government should support Arts Funding. The world needs art because it's an outlet for you to express yourself in whatever way you want. There's a lot of freedom in art, and the government is trying to take that away from us.

Having just completed my first year of college I was out in the business world looking for a new job for the summer. I applied for various jobs online and received a couple offers and went in for an interview at a local hotel. I was interviewing for a pool attendant position. I met the manager of the hotel and we sat down as he described to me all of the inner workings of the job. He then asked me a variety of questions that apply to the job as well as the type of person I was. It is important to answer these questions with answers the interviewer wants to hear. Even though there isn’t a “right” answer for a lot of the questions, there are answers that the interviewer could approve or disapprove of. Using skills that I learned from my liberal arts education I was able to build a connection with the interviewer, answer his questions with answers he wanted to hear, and establish who I was and what I could bring to the organization.

Since the nation issued financial cuts, Fine Arts programs have been reduced or completely abolished. This reduction instigates the controversy on how to deal with prioritizing funding from the federal government. Students, parents, teachers, taxpayers, schools, and the federal government are all directly involved in this controversy. People that value arts education tend to be more anxious about the possible outcomes. The stakeholders are divided on whether or not the fine arts should be funded in schools. Stakeholders worried about their non-fine arts programs want the funding priority to be in their favor. However, people associated with fine arts want to see funding in their programs. Pro-Fine arts education stakeholders mostly point to the values of the outcomes that derive from the arts as their prime support for their argument.

“93 percent of Americans consider the arts to be vital to providing a well-rounded education for children and a critical link to learning and success” (“Why” par. 3). Going against this though, school budgets give less to arts programs each year. This can be exemplified in the lack of liberal arts programs that schools across the country are able to provide. In 2009, a mere four percent of schools offered theater classes and an even lower three percent offered dance classes (Metla par. 3) Of course the school must give time for the basic english, math, and history classes, but those classes can be amplified in what students get out of them by the addition of liberal arts courses. If students have an art or music class that gives them passion,

First, educators need to have a paradigm shift in the idea that arts education is the responsibility of only the art teacher. Fowler (1994) offers that strong schools tend to have strong arts program. Fowler (1994) states,

Most people would agree that music and art programs in schools have a huge impact on students not only academically, but in just about every aspect of their lives. Studies have shown that students who are involved in music and art programs have an overall higher IQ and show signs of many other academic benefits. Participating in such programs also allow students the opportunity to express themselves artistically and show the world their perhaps otherwise hidden potential. We all know how fun it can be to show the world your unexpected abilities, and what better way to show those off than the place where we spend most of our day-to-day lives? Unfortunately, even with all these obvious benefits, when the school budget is short, the first

Schools that offer fine arts classes have lower dropout rates and raised attendance. The fine arts positively impact students of lower socioeconomic status more those of a higher  status. The fine arts have no barriers for race, religion, and culture when it comes to being involved in the arts. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to be involved (Katy Independent School District). Without the arts these students have no outlet for creative capabilities and no way to express their talents. Students who need this way of expressing themselves are overlooked and they are the ones who need it the most (Dickson). When viewing the participation of arts in the eyes of a ten-year old, “It cools kids down after all the other hard stuff they have to think about” (Arts and Smarts: Test Scores and Cognitive Development).

Having escaped rule from a tyrannical British government, the United States was founded on ideals of freedom and equality for all people. These fantasies of universal egalitarianism turned out to be merely that: fantasies. American history is full of stories of the oppressed struggling to get the rights they deserve and of the controversy over these issues that consequently ensues. “The Hypocrisy of American Slavery” by Frederick Douglass and “We Shall Overcome” by Lyndon B. Johnson are two speeches made confronting two of these issues. Douglass’s speech, delivered in 1852, condemns the institution of slavery and maintains that slaves are men and are therefore entitled to freedom. Johnson’s speech, on the other hand, was written in 1965 and discussed the civil rights movement. In it, he implored local governments to allow all American citizens, regardless of race, to vote. Despite the significant gap in time between these two addresses, both speakers use similar persuasive techniques, including ethos, pathos, and parallelism, to convince their audience that change needs to be implemented in America.