According to a 2003 Gallup Organization survey, which was commissioned by the International Music Products Association, exactly 80 percent of respondents believed that playing an instrument makes one smarter. The same survey shows that close to 85 percent of respondents believed participating in a school music program corresponds with better grades.
Yet for all the benefits music education yields, schools across the country are choosing music education as the victim of the budget ax.
Music education in elementary schools tends to go first, “when creativity and the foundation for creative thinking is most important,” said Sharon Burch, a nationally regarded music, teacher, speaker, and author.
The trend of slashing music education from school curriculum may be widespread, but it has been the norm in California for many years, said Burch. In five year’s time, there has been a drop of 50 percent of music students in California public schools, from 18.5 percent in the 1999-2000 school year to 9.3 percent in 2003-04, according to the Music for All Foundation study "The Sound of Silence."
The greatest decline was in the area of general music, which suffered an 85 percent decrease in student enrollment. The number of music teachers declined by 26.7 percent during the same period, representing an actual loss of 1,053 teachers, the same study shows.
“Our current economic crisis combined with education reform leaves school administration little choice,” Burch said.
The Texas Music Project is a non-profit organization that strives to beef up and restore music education in Texas schools. According to the organization's statistics, nearly one in five American schools fails to offer music or art classes even once a week.
Students should be exposed to a wide assortment of subjects that includes music in order to get the most out of education. To deprive students of a well-rounded education would be to put them at a disadvantage.
“As a nation, we are cutting off the feet of our next generation,” Burch said. If we want our students to think creatively and be innovative problem solvers for the never-ending problems needing to be solved with every change that comes with progress, then those students needs practice in creativity, an eye for detail in design and the aesthetics demanded by the 21st century customer as our current society craves meaning and experiences in the marketplace.”
Due to the neuroscientists' discoveries, music stimulates and exercises the brain. Those same neural pathways enhance the fundamental subjects. The study of music enables improved study in the other areas, Burch said.
More students equal more money
In the current system, more students equals more money, and higher quality learning and programs attract more students, Burch said. In Chicago, there are three public school systems considered to be the nation’s top fine arts schools. Parents strive to live in those school districts to give their children the best opportunities possible. They are also the wealthiest school districts in the surrounding Chicago area.
“Money follows success,” Burch said. “Without these high quality fine arts programs, the support would leave. Teach with passion, raise the standard and the money will follow.”
Sources:
- Texas Music Project fact sheet about music education
- Music for All Foundation, The Sound of Silence: The Unprecedented Decline of Music Education in California Public Schools
Teresa Edmond - Teresa Edmond is a poet, journalist and freelance writer based in North Jersey. She has written budget stories, emotionally-charged human ...
