Klarinet Archive - Posting 000727.txt from 2001/05

From: "Dee D. Hays" <deehays@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] School Board
Date: Sun, 27 May 2001 09:53:06 -0400

----- Original Message -----
From: <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subject: Re: [kl] School Board

> At 07:26 AM 05/27/2001 -0400, you wrote:
> >You continue to misconstrue everything I say. Here are the schools that
> >did not require any music after elementary school.
>
> I don't believe I have misconstrued anything. You said "little bit"
> offered at the elementary level - but again, you don't define that. Was
it
> a music specialist doing the teaching? What was the length of the class?
>
> >Forest, Ohio
> >Niantic, Illinois
> >Canton, South Dakota
> >Madison Heights, Michigan
>
> Where is the rest of the national trend???

I was not talking about national trends only the fact that there are indeed
schools that have no music requirement past the elementary school level. If
it were part of the core curricula, then these students would get the music
exposure that we believe they need. And to make matters worse, the
elementary was not taught by a music specialist.

>
> >By the way, in Canton, South Dakota, I was one of the people who fought
> >and won the battle to get the band and chorus students full academic
> >credit for their band or chorus rather than the 1/2 credit they were
> >getting. So please don't ever think that I want to eliminate band and
> >chorus from the curricula.
>
> I only think it because you said it Dee. See previous post.

Repeat: Extracurricular does not mean eliminate. They are not synonymous.
I've seen some extracurricular programs that were stronger than those set up
as elective classes. The actual band time was allotted time during the
school day though and the teachers were hired and on the payroll in exactly
the same way and classification that teachers for subjects such as English
were. There was money in the school budget for sheet music and such. The
ones that I personally knew about had more money for sheet music as the
school did not pay for uniforms, contest expenses etc (the band boosters
organization covered these types of non-music expenses).

No matter which way it is at the schools, it's subject to the whims of the
local system.

> [snip] And significantly below MENC standards. And significantly below
what most
> schools are currently doing.

Unfortunately MENC standards are not mandatory parts of state school board
requirements. I want all students in all schools to have some music not
just those students who enroll in electives or participate in
extracurricular activities.

> [snip]
>
> Most public middle school programs don't have graduations Dee.

Whether or not they have "graduation," they have to pass middle school to
get into high school. This type of quibbling is beneath both of us.

>
> [snip] Your statements do not reflect the national trend.

National trends don't help the kids in the schools that don't have it or are
eliminating it.

>
> I never said it was required at the high school level for graduation. I
> said many have fine arts requirements....there is a lot of curriculum that
> covers "fine arts" that is not music. Many colleges have "fine arts
> requirements" as our's does - but only a percentage choose music as the
> vehicle by which they satisfy that requirement.

I specifically want one year of music not just "fine arts" in general.

>
> And there is the problem Dee. It's like saying that since you saw a dam
> work well in timbuktu that was built with sand and logs, that's the best
> (or the worst) way to build a dam. We don't represent curriculum with
> isolated examples. We don't represent theory with only a few examples -
we
> do it with many. Those you mention are most definitely not the national
norm.

Again, I was offering alternatives to consider. Never said it was the only
or best way. And it's not just the rural schools that have problems.
Madison Heights is a long, long way from rural. If a few are "broken,"
then we need to examine the rest to be sure that they don't "break" at some
time in the future. The national norm could change at any time or over time
depending on the importance that local organizations and parents tend to put
on the subject.

> The board doesn't require anything. The curriculum is developed by the
> teachers, worked over by the teachers, suggested by the teachers - based
on
> what they feel is important in a curriculum. This is then passed to the
> appropriate administrators in the school/district for approval. Then it
is
> approved or disapproved by a board - which oversees the entire thing
> (including the budget).

At the LOCAL level. Naturally state mandated requirements are included but
anything else is fair game for inclusion or exclusion at any point in this
development review process.

>
> I make it a point to be an expert in this area Dee. Sorry you don't
> recognize that. I can't teach students to get a degree in music education
> - to be state certified and to student teach - without knowing the
> programs, the state requirements, and even which congressmen/senators will
> support an idea. That's my job.

I do acknowledge your expertiese. But national trends, electives, and so on
don't guarantee that students in any given school will get any basic
grounding in music. I'm after that basic grounding. The current system
doesn't get the job done.

Dee Hays
Michigan

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