Education Cuts Target Funding for Music Programs which put Students at a Disadvantage

By: Jenni Anderson

The Issue

The issue of defunding for music education is a big debate in America as well as our local community. Music education includes music classes as an elective, or extracurricular activities like band, choir, and orchestra. The cause of the defunding for music education is due to overall education cuts from the government. Music education was impacted the most from education cuts because there is a stigma around pursuing a music education that they will not be able to find a job after college. Instead of making education cuts proportional to the different subjects, it was mainly music education programs that were targeted.

The Current State Of Music Education

Currently, some schools are trying to keep their music programs so they are charging fees to join, which makes it difficult for many kids to participate. Instruments are extremely expensive in addition to the fees just to be a part of the group. Some schools have to cut back on the amount of music education that they can provide, instead of having band, choir, and orchestra, they might only keep choir. In some cases, some schools have to get rid of music education completely.

The History of Music Education

According to the article, Student Engagement and Achievement in American Secondary School, the author Dr. Newman explains how students who participate in extracurricular activities like music, correlate to a higher success rate in school.

Music is taught in schools to teach students memorization, rhythm, teamwork, and many other lessons. Students involved with music education had significantly higher GPA’s than students who were not involved.  This article proved how important music education is to a student’s education.

The Opposing Views

Music education teaches skills that cannot be taught through other classes or activities. Some parents believe that school districts should be using their budget on more math and writing teachers rather than music education, because those are the skills that are tested on the SAT and ACT tests. Other parents see music education as being just as beneficial or more beneficial to their child’s education and character development than math and writing.

Conclusion

Students involved with music education are linked to higher GPA’s, better academic results and social skills. This puts students who do not have access to music programs at a disadvantage. Music education is important for children to develop these skills, but due to the education budget cuts, it might not be possible to give students these opportunities.