Please, don't take music away!

Warning: this post is far from inspirational.   

I'm worried! Music, arts, and P.E. in our schools are be threatened and I'm worried. For those of you who are unaware, the state legislature passed laws regarding class size in the lower grades.  Why? Allow me to walk you through the situation as I see it.  Be aware that I am but a lowly educator and not privy to the super secret budgetary talks, reasoning, and rationale from the top dogs of our system.  This is how I imagine it all went down.

Setting: NCDPI late at night. Players are seated around conference table in a stuffy room discussing educational policy

Scene 1: 

Top Dog #1: Class sizes are too large in the lower grades.  This is affecting test scores once students reach third grade. 

Top Dog #2: We should pass legislation restricting the capacity of lower grade classrooms.

Top Dog #3: We don't have enough space to accommodate those numbers.  Wait, we don't have enough teachers for the classes. Oh no, how will we pay those teachers?

All 3 Together: We will SLASH THE ARTS! And P.E. just for fun! School should be torturous, why should we allow kids to have fun in music, art, and P.E. class?

End Scene 

There you have it, the idea to balance the budget by cutting all non-essential classes.  Not to worry though, the state did pass HB13 allowing for waivers to be obtained during the initial years of roll out. The really upsetting part is the fact that no one ever really addressed the actual problem in this conundrum: testing.  You see one of the key reasons lawmakers stated in making the original size restriction was the quality of instruction.  Students in the 3rd grade were not performing quite as well as one would hope on the "read to achieve" reading assessments probably because of all the instructional time lost to assessment.

Those who are in charge of educational policy latched on to the idea that too many students in one class in hindered access to quality instruction.  This is a very simple answer to an intricately complex problem.  I do not disagree that class size should be small(er), I just don't believe this to be the best answer.

An even more simple solution to the problem of low test scores: cutting the arts and P.E.

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I read in the WRAL comment section a disturbing suggestion that we should place even more focus on the basic skills of reading, writing, and math instead of the arts simply because other "industrialized" nations are producing smarter students who are better apt at competing for jobs worldwide than our students.  I do not possess the patience to point out every fallacy with this argument so I'll only address one--we educate every child regardless of his or her abilities.  If we only tested our best 10% I'd be willing to best our scores would more closely resemble those of the nations who practice selectivity. Either way, our kids need music education! 

There is way more to life than answering questions on a test.  I can't think of a single adult who thinks back to his or her time in school with fond memories of testing.  Yes, reading is incredibly important and so is writing.  Being able to compute basic math will be helpful in life; but eve more so will be the lessons one learns through music, art, and cultural studies.  Music is math for your ears, art is literature for your senses. Drama teaches empathy and communication, dance helps fine tune motor skills.  All are so very important in development.  I want my students to be well rounded and defined as an individual, not molded from the same cookie cutter. 

Students should absolutely be exposed to music, art, and culture! I urge anyone who disagrees to do a quick google search of, "music and art education benefits."  It may surprise you to find that students who are exposed to the arts actually do better on standardized tests.  Music and art education opens the minds of students and encourages critical and creative thinking.  These skills are important in classes such as English, math, and social studies.  Creative and critical thinking are basic skills with which every student should be equipped.

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Interestingly enough, students who are higher risk academically are the same students who receive little (if any) music and arts education.  According to a Department of Education blog, "Student's who are at high risk usually receive little to no arts education." In my opinion, having few creative outlets for expression leads to difficulties in the classroom.  If all of the research on the benefits of music and arts education is to be believed, higher risk communities MUST include music and arts as a part of their curriculum.  At this point, not providing music and art class should NOT even be an option for schools.

So what is our purpose as educators?  Perhaps we should re-examine that before trying to patch up amputations with band-aids.

Personally, I believe our purpose should revolve around life-skills.  We should be providing students with skills to help them succeed academically as well as in life.  Show me where an adult is asked to choose the best answer from a list of possible responses?  I'd be willing to bet most adults must think creatively on the daily and provide new solutions for old problems frequently.  This is a skill we should teach our kids.

But again, I'm just a lowly teacher; what do I know? 

Special Notice: This post is my opinion freely given. I am not an expert on educational policy, I just read and listen to other educators and parents.