Klarinet Archive - Posting 001284.txt from 1998/04

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: budget cutbacks
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 23:09:39 -0400

On Wed, 22 Apr 1998, Jason Hsien wrote:
> Most schools will provide shoes for sports, unless
> student opts to get their own, socks, and obviously the school provides the
> instrument unless the person opts to use their own, similar to how football
> players get their helmets from school

There are some problems here Jason. The shoes are almost never provided
by the school. That is a fact!

Beyond that, the school does not often provide flutes, clarinets, oboes,
alto saxophones, trumpets, trombones, or percussion mallets.......

> Now, I can understand why people can get angry because of my support of
> athletic programs over music programs. Yes, I love music, but I am trying to
> be rational. Instead of thinking of schools as simply places of education,
> think of them as small businesses. Athletics is a great public relations
> device. So is music, but which one seriously makes a bigger punch? Which one
> is the student body more likely to support? ("Sports Jocks vs Band Geeks")
> Which one has a stronger student base?

I'm sorry, but the rationale is just not very plausible......a school as a
place of business and not justa a place of education? You may be thinking
of some universities....and that would be true. But such a thing is not
common for public schools. That's why they are called public
schools.....they are funded by public tax dollars - parents who wish their
children to be educated by an educational facility.....not a business.

> I am always open to different points of view, and I will defend my points,
> but I do ask that you try and keep an open mind about the subject. I will do
> the same.

I have an open mind Jason....and I can appreciate your point of view. I
can also understand why you would support the athletic department first -
but let's not take it to mean that public schools should be run as
businesses as well......that a child's music education.....as poor as it
is right now in the U.S.......should take a back seat to a business?

It's enough to make me cry.

Roger Garrett
IWU