Klarinet Archive - Posting 000620.txt from 1998/04

From: "Jason Hsien" <jasonavhs@-----.com>
Subj: Re: budget cutbacks
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 11:15:26 -0400

-----Original Message-----
From: Cheddar99 <Cheddar99@-----.com>

|>My younger son plays trumpet and baritone horn in his high school marching
|>and concert bands. And every year the same damned thing happens: Oh We
|>Can't Afford This, Boo-Hoo, cries the School Board. And every year, after
|>the band parents raise holy Hell, the same thing happens: the band budget
|>gets salvaged because Wayne Valley High School can't lose face by fielding
|>a football team without a marching band. But I know damned well that if
|>the township could get away with it, my son would be working his musical
|>chops on a wax paper kazoo in the boy's room.
|
|This happens at my high school too. Every year the school board cuts back
the
|music departments budgets soo much, and only adds to the sport department.
|unfortunatley, no matter how hard we yell, they keep cutting back. they
even
|went as far as to cut back our orchestra teacher's salary, so she refused
to
|do activities that have been done by her in the past, such as run our pep
|band. Our school is currently getting remodeled and they even cut back the
|plans for our new music building. we wouldn't get one at all if a local...

This reminds me of a quote from the movie Mr. Hollands Opus, right after
Glenn Holland (Richard Dreyfuss) finds out the Art, Drama and Music programs
have been cut and eliminated from JFK High:

"Well, I don't think you have anything to worry about Gene. The day they
cut the football budget, now, well... THAT will be the end of western
civilization as we know it."

At least some should be grateful to get any music budget at all. I don't
wish to sound critical of anyone, and I apologize if I do, but the music
programs around here have no music budget, and the only funding we get are
teacher salaries, parent band boosters, donations, city grants, and any
education bond measure that they can manage to squeeze something in for the
music departments. This sounds like a lot of money, but rest assured, it's
not.

All I can say is... Thanks a lot, Prop 19. (You wouldn't understand unless
you lived in California)
-jason