Klarinet Archive - Posting 000311.txt from 2002/09

From: "Anthony Wakefield" <tony-w@-----.uk>
Subj: Re: [kl]Benefits of Arts Education
Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2002 11:54:13 -0400

Wow. I reckon this highly charged view of American education could, in my
view, embarrass a few heads of arts & music over this side of the pond too.
A few senators also I`ll bet, let alone someone who`s planning a regime
change somewhere.
If those who speak for us (for parents) on this question, were to be as
clearly vocal and fluent as what Lelia is, I could be convinced that the
arts has a future.
Where is education leading us? Could it be that the state could sell off
school education to the private sector, thus allowing conglomerates like
MicroSoft, for example, to impose their own curriculum upon students of all
ages. This would certainly make them computer literate, and more fully
prepared for these positions within their own company. If the sudents` were
to express an interest in music, their "company arts year head" could then
advise them to go out and buy a C.D?
Any other twisted alternatives friends?
Tony W.
[Anne Lenoir puts herself down too much - (see her own view on Lelia`s mail)
I know she is a clarinettist of much worth. She is also an influential
teacher, and has enough energy to put me to total shame].

----- Original Message -----
From: <LeliaLoban@-----.com>
Subject: [kl]Benefits of Arts Education

> Although educational bureaucracies clearly need those studies showing the
> benefits of arts education, as an ordinary citizen, I rely on common
sense.
> Common sense would tell me to withdraw any kid of mine, muy pronto, from
any
> school that abandoned the arts curriculum. To me, cutting music is not
only
> a literal action; it's also a symbolic action. I read it as the
> advertisement for a general mind-set that I don't want taught to my
family.
> As Oscar Wilde put it, people who think that way "know the price of
> everything and the value of nothing."
>
> If I couldn't find a better school by moving away or by paying for a
private
> school, then I'd still pull my kids out of the state school and resort to
> home schooling, before I'd subject any child in my family to the
educational
> unwisdom of misleaders who think that the fine arts are frills. A school
> system with not enough money for the arts hasn't got enough money for a
sound
> curriculum generally. No, that's not a scientific finding, but I'll bet
it's
> the gut-level reaction of a lot of the better-educated parents in the
average
> school district.
>
> The thinking goes something like this: Want a brain-drain? Want to be
left
> with classrooms full of the drug zombies who pick fights and sleep through
> class (if they go to class), whose parents don't give a crap as long as
the
> yard apes aren't underfoot? Just kick out the music and art programs and
> watch the students at the top of the academic charts scuttle for the exit
> doors. Even if nothing else in this paragraph is true, I think that
enough
> educated parents *believe* it's true for it to become a self-fulfilling
> prophecy.
>
> The politicians in my small City of Falls Church (Virginia) know exactly
how
> to play this card. Every time citizens scream about a projected new tax
> hike, the School Board and the City Council start issuing dire warnings,
like
> squids shooting out ink: "Ooooh, if you terrible cheapskates won't give
us
> wheelbarrows full of money, we may have to cut the arts programs. The top
> students will disappear and *your* kids will have to sit surrounded by
> juvenile delinquents." Well, okay, nobody comes right out and says
> "wheelbarrows" and "cheapskates," but.... With elections coming up, the
ink
> cloud billows again, right on schedule.
>
> The tactic works beautifully. The parents freak out on cue and start
> threatening to move away; the specter of declining property values arises
> like toxic mist from graveyards of elections past; and citizens vote for
the
> tax measure (necessary or not) or for the candidate who endorses it, even
> when it's unjustified or even fiscally irresponsible. Even though I
perceive
> the cynicism in this process, I'll usually vote for the increase, too,
just
> in case I'm mistaken. Only outrageously bad accounting or demonstrable
> fiscal ineptitude can turn me away from a school improvement bond. A
school
> that wants to keep the honor students who keep those almighty test scores
> high must keep the curriculum that attracts their moms and dads and
> neighbors.
>
> Lelia

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