Sarah Mahaffey 10/2/13 Voltz 1102-002

Annotated Bibliography

Bryant, Jeff. "Starving America's Public Schools: "How Budget Cuts and Policy Mandates Are Hurting Our Nation's Students (2012): 1-46. Campaign For America's Future, 28 July 2012. Web. 19 Sept. 2013. <http://www.ourfuture.org/files/documents/starving-schools-report.pdf>. Starving Americas Public Schools: How Budget Cuts and Policy Mandates Are Hurting Our Nations Students discusses what cutting the arts does to students as well as how it correlates with other budget cuts in related areas. It shows how these cuts work together to create issues for students and their futures as individuals and as a nation. The article begins by addressing the failure of the pre-K-12 public education system throughout the United States. As a nation, students scores are average and remain so, while other countries advance. The article addresses that parents find the schools to be great as well as their congressional representatives, yet they dislike the U.S. Congress overall. This hinders their knowledge of budget cuts and the toll it takes on public schools. Education programs, the number of teachers leading to larger classes, the ending of arts and physical education, fewer specialized programs for the mentally handicapped and children with developmental issues, and extra-curricular activities, are all being cut. The article shows how these cuts as a whole truly hinder overall learning and enjoyment for students. It shows that schools are cutting back on essential programs nationwide, and parents are having to cover fees for basic programs. The article lists all the budget cuts but goes into detail on early childhood ed., class size, curriculum, and special programs. The most important thing for my essay would be regarding curriculum. For example, Bryant says that most parents and teachers understand that children need a 21st century

education that includes classes in the arts, music, health and physical education, social studies, and vocational training. Although, these are the curriculums the school sacrifices as well as the special programs for development and academics. For my essay I plan to use this source as a main reference because it gives me qualitative as well as quantitative research to support my thesis. It provides support for my topic by addressing the issues of cutting art programs. It also addresses cutting programs that are closely related, and it shows how they correlate and make the issue worse for students academically as well as recreationally. It provides me with the facts I need to base my essay off of from a overall perspective, however I plan to find more personal examples that are more heart-felt to support these facts. This is an important article for me because it proves there are significant results to the budget cuts and it gives me actual numerical support. I find it to be an extremely strong article and it provides me with support I did not realize I needed or had available. I now realize that I can apply other cuts such as classroom size and specialized education to support my thesis as well. I recognize this is a credible source because it is a PDF from a legitimate organization known as The Campaign For Americas Future or www.ourfuture.org. The author Jeff Bryant is an associate fellow of this organization and he is as well as a former blogger for an independent communications consultant. I feel that it is unbiased because it addresses issues head on, but it is for the arts and it does not provide many counter arguments, so it is one sided. I believe the only issue I may have with this article is deciding what quantitative evidence is truly relevant to my topic, and the fact that it addresses 2012 whereas other articles address 2013.

Hawkins, Tyleah. "Will Less Art and Music in the Classroom Really Help Students Soar Academically?" The Washington Post, 28 Dec. 2012. Web. 6 Sept. 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/will-less-art-and-musicin-the-classroom-really-help-students-soar-academically/2012/12/28/e18a2da04e02-11e2-839d-d54cc6e49b63_blog.html>. The article Will Less Art and Music in the Classroom Really Help Students Soar Academically, addresses Tyleah Hawkins take on budget cuts. Hawkins addresses the fact that schools located in poverty stricken areas are suffering because of the cuts to arts and music programs. They are seen as causalities and never fully restored. Hawkins stresses that these schools did not have much to cut from. Even the stability of teachers for these subjects is affected. Many times the cuts eliminate the programs and need for teachers in these fields. Hawkins explains the arts and music programs further the advancements in reading, math, and science. One example included involves low income students and bachelors degrees. Hawkins states that low-income students are as three times as likely to earn a B.A degree if they had arts experiences in school. She also shows there is increase of dropout rates without arts to keep these students in school. Hawkins goes into detail on the fact that arts education helps improve standardized test scores. I believe Hawkins article shows the passion I need to convey to support my argument for the arts. Hawkins provides me with a take from lower income schools that are greatly affected. I now have the ability to compare it with wealthy and private schools and how they differentiate, I believe that Hawkins supports her article well with information cited from well respected authoritative figures. I believe Hawkins is a credible source because the article was published in the Washington Post. I think it is well written and uses many credible sources throughout the article. The only weakness I for see is it only discusses poverty stricken area so I will

have to compare it with another author, who may use different statistics to support their points.

Kadis, Bobby. Short-Sighted NC Lawmakers Cut Funds To Life-Enhancing Arts. NewsObserver.com, 5 July 2013. Web. 6 Sept. 2013. <http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/07/05/3012498/short-sighted-nclawmakers-cut.html>. In the article, Short-Sighted NC Lawmakers Cut Funds To Life-Enhancing Arts, Bobby Kadis addresses budget proposals regarding art grant programs and cuts to the arts. Kadis shows how N.C. Arts Council has a strong infrastructure statewide and enhances the creativity of youth and students. Kadis shows that there are 50,000 arts and crafts persons in North Carolina, over 3,000 nonprofit art organizations, 90 local art councils, 586 galleries and museums, 326 theater preforming groups, 133 dance companies, and 674 music preforming groups. Kadis questions why the cuts are aimed at grants for the arts when they are one of the number one tourist attractions for N.C. Kadis gives the example of 20 dollars is made for every dollar that go into the arts. Over all it generates more than 62.3 million dollars for the state. I plan to use this source to address the relevance of the arts specifically for North Carolina. This article provides support not only for art grants but the arts in schools. Even though it does not state how it affects schools it is clear that many artists come to North Carolina to work on their craft and art businesses. Kadis shows how important that is for North Carolina, which leads me to think it goes without saying arts education is necessary in a state that has so many art based jobs. We need to address this locally as well as nationwide so students can realize their potential and talents when they are young. If North Carolina cannot do this we might lose our local talents over time. Kadiss point

was the arts enhance the lives of the young and old in North Carolina, but he provided me with support for a completely different point. I feel that his article strongly supports my argument. I believe this is a credible source because Bobby Kadis is the chair of the North Carolina Arts Council and a former chair of the Penland Schools of Crafts in Western North Carolina as well as a founding partner of Centrex Properties Inc. in Raleigh. This shows he has experience in many art related fields pertinent to North Carolina specially. He has addressed these issues first hand in these fields and has a heart for the topic as well as logical information that readers need to hear to support the cause. My only concern is the length of the article.

McCormac, Nick. "SC Gov. Nikki Haley Completely Cuts Funding to The SC Arts Commission." CNN IReport. CNN- Cable News Network, 8 July 2012. Web. 6 Sept. 2013. <http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-813011>. This article, SC Gov. Nikki Haley Completely Cuts Funding to The SC Arts Commission, covers Haleys budget vetoes for South Carolina. It cuts from teachers salaries, museums, historical Charleston sites, and many other places. It addresses both sides of the argument. It shows that Haley believes that state colleges dont need federal research grants and that arts programs do not need funding from the government because they are not government functions. I chose this very short article because it shows the opinion of a local government representative. I plan to use this source to show why certain people believe the arts dont need funding. I also plan to use it as a counter argument for my essay. My only concern is

the article sounds extremely biased so I will have to work to keep that from influencing my interpretation of the facts. I believe this is a credible source because it is posted on CNNs website and it was written by a staff writer. I believe the bias may be an issue but I plan to use the credible information an attempt to leave out bias from my argument for a well rounded essay.

Smith, Fran. "Why Arts Education Is Crucial, and Who's Doing It Best." Edutopia, 28 Jan. 2009. Web. 21 Sept. 2013. <http://www.edutopia.org/arts-music-curriculumchild-development>. Smith shows that art education can solve numerous issues from the demand of academic achievement to social and emotional development, civic, engagement, and equitable opportunities. Smith supports other articles I have found by stating the arts further development in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking and verbal skills. Not only does it improve academics, it helps improve motivation, concentration, confidence, and team work. Arts can be a learning tool if supported; they can be used in other classes besides arts, and hands-on types of instruction. Smith addresses the fact that art is also being cut so test scores can rise. If schools were truly concerned about this they would realize higher test scores are associated with arts and music. Smith is one of the only authors I have read who addresses how to revitalize the arts. Smith shows what other schools have done and works to apply this to all areas. I think this article is significant to my paper because it supports the arts as well as shows reasons the arts are crucial from a learning standpoint. I believe arts as a recreational opportunity in school is vital for students to stay in school but Smith backs it up further by showing that it truly benefits students in other academic areas and works as

a stress reliever. I plan on incorporating this article into my research to show why the arts are beneficial in almost every way. I believe this is a credible source because the author addresses where he found his information. The article is slightly biased, but when you argue for something you are passionate about its difficult to not sound biased. The only issue with this article would yet again be keep out the bias. I need to focus on counter arguments next so I have a healthy amount of comparison to keep the readers interested.