All About the Arts

All About the Arts

Madison Grunow
ENG 104, Section 17
Professor Romano
October 14, 2015

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All About the Arts

When researching the causes and effects of budget cuts concerning arts programs, most
of the sources researched discussed the benefits of arts education, the elimination of creativity
among students, and the ways people are trying to bring back the arts.
The benefits of arts education has been discussed time and again, but there is still not a
big enough emphasis on its importance. As discussed in the interview with Chris Wing, removing
music, art, or theatre from a school removes a childs opportunity for an outlet because money
isnt available to support it. Valeriya Melta goes into this issues in her report on school arts
programs. Melta goes into how arts programs have helped at-risk students. She mentions how
arts programs keep at-risk students off the streets and away from correctional facilities as well as
improve their academic achievement. Melta also goes into further detail of how the arts helps
with child development. She mentions that exposing young children to visual arts and music
education aids in developing motor skills, hand-eye coordination, improvement in
communication and listening, as well as overall brain development. Wing and Melta both discuss
how the elimination of arts programs in schools also eliminates the opportunity for kids to use
their gifts and build on their strengths and skills within the arts. Yohuru Williams builds on this
in his post on The Huffington Post when he talks about how research has been done that shows
the positive effects that the arts have on students. Williams says that the research has shown that
music, theatre, and art have helped in brain growth and development as well as teamwork,
perseverance, and commitment.
Ken Robinson, creativity expert, took an interesting approach in his TED Talks video. He
mentions, We are now running national education systems where mistakes are the worst thing
you can make and the result is we are educating people out of their creative capacities,
(Robinson, 2006). Robinsons approach to the removal of arts programs in public schools is
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different from every other source that discussed this topic. Most sources that I looked into
discussed the cause and effects of school budget cuts, the benefits of having arts programs in
schools, and some of the ways states are trying to offset the budget cuts being made. However
Robinson took a different, refreshing approach in how the reduction of arts programs has
essentially killed the creativity of students. He says that our education system has brought us to
the point where making a mistake is the worst thing a student can make. Robinson is referring to
how the Common Core State Standards (CCSs) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law have
impacted public schools. Both the NCLB and CCSS emphasize standardized tests in core
subjects including math, science, English, and social studies. Melta also discusses the NCLB law
in her report as well as Marci Major in her case study involving the decision-making process of
keeping or cutting music programs in K-12 public schools. They both mention how the law has
put a bigger emphasis on core subjects at the expense of arts programs and classes.
There is also a bigger emphasis on standardized tests and pressure to do well year after
year on such tests. The schools are under this pressure because they could lose funding if they
dont perform well enough. Students are also under pressure to do well on tests because they
believe it is the only measure of their knowledge. In turn, these students now have a mindset
centered on doing well on tests where making too many mistakes could cause a major drop in
their grade. I like what Williams has to say about demonstrating students knowledge. He brings
up the point that arts programs allow students to demonstrate their skills and knowledge with
their bodies on stage or in galleries whereas the new standardized tests have students show their
knowledge by filling in bubbles with a number two pencil. This goes back to Robinsons point of
students being afraid to make mistakes. Students now have a mindset where it is not okay to
make a mistake because it takes away from their intelligence as shown by their test scores if they
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get a question wrong. With this mindset, students are afraid and unprepared to make mistakes,
which as Robinson points out, If you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with
anything original, (Robinson, 2006). Robinson, Melta, and Major all bring up the point that
emphasizing the core classes as math, English, science, and social studies at the expense of arts
classes removes the room for creativity and originality in students who will be the future of this
country and this world.
Another reason behind the removal of arts programs is economic based and both Wing
and Major discuss this. Wing talked about the recession of 2008 and how our country is still
being affected by the aftermath, especially the arts. He goes on about how the decrease in
number of people working has contributed to the decrease in funding for school budgets. Major
also mentions this in her case study on the decision-making process for keeping or cutting music
in K-12 public school districts. She states that the unemployment rate has doubled in the past ten
years which has lowered state and local tax revenues. This is a problem as explained by Wing in
how his school receives funding through property taxes.
Several sources note some programs and movements to help bridge the gap that budget
cuts have created. Lucas Kavner discusses President Obamas 2013 arts budget in his blog post
on Huffington Post. Kavner points out that Obamas 2011-2012 budget reduced funding for the
National Endowment for the Arts by 13.3%, but his new budget plans to increase its funding by
5.5%. This shows the Presidents action to help offset the impact budget cuts have made on arts
programs. Kavner also mentions the Turnaround Arts program that works with 49 different
schools around the country to help bring the arts back into schools. The programs provides arts
supplies, musical instruments, and Turnaround Artists that work with students and teachers in
high-poverty and low-performing schools. The program was created after 10 years of research
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showing the benefits arts education has on academic achievement. The program showed
improvement in academic achievement, reduction in disciplinary referrals, and increase in
attendance after just three years. Debbie Block also mentions a program that helps rebuild arts
programs known as Education Through Music. This is a nonprofit organization that helps to
establish and maintain music programs in schools in New York City. Ben Niles describes another
program in New York that helps to bring back the arts in his blog post in The Huffington Post.
Niles talks about Julliards Music Advanced Placement Program. This is a Saturday program for
inner-city kids designed to help show the benefits of the music education in cities both big and
small. Admission into the program is not based skill, but on potential, willingness to learn, as
well as the ambition and passion for music. He also goes deeper into learning about the impact of
this program in his documentary, Some Kind of Spark. These different programs demonstrate
the different ways that people and organizations are trying to bring arts education back into the
lives of students across the country. Arts programs depend on private funding for survival and
thats what these programs are trying to accomplish; they are trying to save what is left of the
arts.
While the issue of reducing funding for arts programs and removing them altogether is
slowly getting better, it is still an issue that needs to be solved. Informing people on this issue in
the causes of the problem as well as solutions is always a great start. The case studies, blog posts,
and articles written on this issue help to inform people across the country. The programs that
schools and organizations are creating help to further inform people on a wider scale as they are
spreading to other schools in the country as made evident by Turnaround Arts. Showing the
benefits that arts programs create also helps to bring this issue into light which is what these
programs do by showing the impact they have made on students.
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References
Archer, J. (1996). Budget cuts strike sour note for music educators. Education Week, 15(29), 8.
Armario, C. (2012, April 2). Elementary school arts classes reduced, report says [Blog post].
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/02/report-arts-classes-at-el_n_1398550.html
Block, D. G. (2014). Music for musics sake. Teaching Music, 21(6), 20.
Campbell, P. S., Connell, C., and Beegle, A. (2007). Adolescents expressed meanings of music
in and out of school. Journal of Research in Music Education, 55(3), 220-236.
Hawkins, T. (2012, December 28). Will less art and music in the classroom really help students
soar academically?
(2012, May 1). Is federal money the best way to fund the arts? Join the debate [Blog post].
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/01/federal-arts-funding_n_1465885.html
Kavner, L. (2012, August 31). Obamas 2013 arts budget focuses on education, mitigating NEA
cuts [Blog post]. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/obamas-2013-budgetarts_n_1843866.html
Robinson, K. (2006, February). Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity? [Video file]. Retrieved
from http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity#t-7009
Major, M. L. (2013). How they decide: A case study examining the decision-making process for
keeping or cutting music in a k-12 public school district. Journal of Research in Music
Education [serial online]. April 2013; 61(1):5-25. Available from: Academic search
premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed October 10, 2015.
Melta, Valeriya. (2015, May 14). School art programs: should they be saved? [Report]. Retrieved
from http://lawstreetmedia.com/issues/education/cutting-art-programs-schools-solutionpart-problem/
Niles, B. (2013, March 6). Music: just for rich kids? [Blog post].
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ben-niles/music-just-for-rich-kids_b_2820066.html
Resmovits, J. (2014, January 10). How the common core became educations biggest bogeyman
[Blog post]. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/10/common-core_n_4537284.html
(2012, February 14). School budget cuts: how students say slashes are affecting them [Blog
post]. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/14/la-youth_n_1277182.html
Williams, Y. (2014, September 17). Rhythm and bruise: how cuts to music and the arts hurt kids
and communities [Blog post]. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yohuru-williams/rhythmand-bruise-how-cut_b_5838406.html
Wing, Chris. Personal interview. 24 September 2015.

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