The Benefits Of American For The Arts

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

Art programs in schools across the nation are in danger of being diminished due to budget cuts and lack of funding. Due to budget cuts, “... schools have been relying more on private funds and patrons of the arts to provide creative outlets for students” (Hambek). Because art is deemed as less important than other core classes, budget cuts that have been put into place almost automatically go straight to cutting funds for art

The arts are always the first to go when a budget crisis arises in any school. 4,100 arts teachers were planned to be laid off in June of 2011 (cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com). Athletics are always prioritized while the art and music programs get the shorter end of the stick. 4,100 arts teachers were planned to be laid off in June of 2011 In April 2016, my high school’s indoor drumline was eliminated due to issues with funding. This program had been a major part in the high school’s music program for over 16 years, and brought widespread recognition to the school for their excellent performances. The irony with the school’s claim in cutting the drumline was that not long after, the football team along with various other athletic teams,

Graziano, Matthew Peterson, and Gordon L. Shaw a group of children were given piano lessons and math training for a certain amount of time, while a control group received only the math training. At the end of the experiment the children were all given a math test; the children who had been given piano lessons scored fifteen percent higher on their math tests than the ones who received only the math training. (Deasy 110) According to Chorus America’s Chorus Impact Study, “parents with children singing in choruses report their children get significantly better grades than children who’ve never been part if one.” This fact is proven in their research that states that sixty four percent of chorus students reported that their language arts skills had improved, fifty seven percent reported that they improved in math, and sixty one percent reported an overall increase in their academic skill levels since joining fine arts. From those statistics, it is almost impossible to imagine that anyone would consider removing fine arts from public schools.

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.

As the final addition to this social issue, Laredo charter and public schools have become victims of this change in not implementing music into their curriculum. This issue particularly narrows its intended audience to the United Independent School District, and how the district is not doing an exceptional job in contributing to student’s performance in school. Students in class performance have suffered greatly, grades from exams are constantly failing, and greater budget cuts are being made to fix the problem in adding more mathematics, history, and science courses. Not only does this apply to elementary schools, but also middle schools, high schools, and even the college systems in Laredo being greatly affected. Authors Jamey Kelley and Steven

Houck, Olivia. “2009-10: Against Cutting Art and Music Programs in Schools” Morrison Institute. 19 Mar. 2013.

Fine arts programs are rapidly being cut around the country. When school systems are running out of money the first programs to be eliminated are the fine arts. School board members have no idea of what they are doing to students. They are unaware of the many benefits of fine arts programs in their schools. They also do not know how to run a successful fine arts program. Since 1993, when legislators imposed revenue corps on public schools, school districts have been forced to make some hard decisions about the ways they can cut back spending. Music and art programs are usually among the the first to receive severe blows. “Fine arts are vulnerable to budget cuts partly because children are not tested in music

Many schools around the country are cutting their music program because of budget cuts in their counties. The arts for some reason are always the first to be cut; apparently the school doesn’t think they are essential to their students learning. Schools try to focus on the more important academic classes because of the high testing standards they must now meet. (Nesoff 2003) This is not just happening in poor school districts it is happening in large districts across the country including magnet schools for the arts: “When Albert Margolis and his wife attended the final music program for their son's kindergarten class in May, they were shocked when a teacher stood up after the performance and

Schools with music programs have a higher estimated graduation rate estimated at 90.2% and a higher attendance rate around 93.9% (11 Facts about Music Education 7). In comparison, schools without music programs; however, average a72.9% graduation and an 84.9% attendance (11 Facts about Music Education 7). Additionally, students who study art are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement and three times more likely to be awarded for school attendance than those who do not (11 Facts about Arts in Education 2). Despite the benefits of having a music and art program, they are often the first things to go when a school starts budget cuts. Due to, schools today focusing on four main core values: Math, Science, English, and History. Consequently, by focusing on these four main core values schools are crushing the creativity of students. Ken Robinson successfully argues this viewpoint in his TED Talk, “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” By enthralling the audience with humorous rhetorical questions, creating connections with the audience through logical and relatable examples, and by keeping a fairly concerned tone throughout his speech to convey the urgency of the issue at hand Robinson effectively and subtlety attacks the modern world’s education system while at the same time informing his audience how schools are squandering the creativity of their students

The decline in music education programs in public schools is a result of budget cuts is becoming more visible. State-level arts spending has dropped from $409 million in the fiscal year 2002 to $354.5 million in the fiscal year 2003, and declined again to $272.4 million in 2004 (“Quick Facts”). It is clearly

Much too often in America today, modern music and art programs in schools are perceived to many as extracurricular activities rather than important subjects that are vital to a students learning and skill development. The truth of the matter is that encouraging music and art education in public schools has a much larger impact on student’s grades, academic performance, and the economy than the majority people realize. Within the next year city school budgets will be dropping by twenty five percent, and despite the fact that music and art programs have been showing a dramatic contribution to student’s learning, this substantial drop in funding for the programs will lead to no dedicated money for art or music programs (Mezzacappa). There is

The reality in education has always been, when the money is tight, it’s time to get rid of something. Why, oh why does this have to be the case? The very first thing they look at is the arts. As stated by Charles Fowler, “In many schools, the status of the arts is fragile. When school systems face budget cuts, curtailments of art and music programs are an all-too common and seemingly easy solution. Reductions often come swiftly and ruthlessly, exacting debilitating losses on faculty and programs. Arts programs are sometimes eliminated by school administrators and boards of education without much anguish or serious debate, as if they are dispensable and unimportant, inconsequential and superfluous” (Fowler, 1996, p. 36).

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

Art, music, and other fine art classes are always the first things to go when schools have a budget cut, however, these things are important and necessary for children. It’s been proven that art not only to their creativity, but their academic achievements and advancements. On top of the academic and creative advantages, fine arts programs just mean a lot to some people. And it seems like the fine arts mean a lot to most students at Lewis Central High School. In my speech I’ll be focusing mainly on the art program. Now I don’t believe that our art program is at any risk of being cut, but I do believe that there are some issues that should be looked at, for example the lower classmen can take very few art classes, there are many outside art festivals and other opportunities that are not touched upon for those same lower classmen, and compared to other fine art programs the opportunities are minimal and the program itself is difficult to be apart of until later years of high school. I’ve been interested in art for as long as I can remember and recently, end of seventh grade to be exact, I decided to pursue it as a potential career, so I took as many art classes as I could. At the middle school, we were offered 1 art class a trimester and I was even lucky enough to be a teacher aide for Ms. Baker. I had the opportunity to enter contests and submit work to a festival, all in the span of one school year.