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Chieli Maldonado Mrs. Green Comp. Rhet. 406 8 November 2013

Students Need Art For many years, the art programs have been cut in numerous schools districts. Unfortunately, schools are not acknowledging the values that music and art brings to all of its students and they are not taking enough action to stop this expanding decline. Districts have made countless reasons why these cuts are necessary but none of those reasons seem to be clear when it comes down to what is truly important, the well-being of the students and how they work in their school environment. Students who love the arts are being affected across the country and it is seen on an increasing level as the classes they love are removed from the curriculum. Music has a substantial effect on children's ability to work in their school setting. Most importantly, children that take part in these programs tend to possess a greater drive to attend school compared to their peers, especially the Students at risk [that are] not successfully completing their high school educations[. They] cite their participation in the arts as reasons for staying in school (Hawkins). Knowing this, schools really need to recognize that art classes motivate the unmotivated student to stay in school and therefore drive students to success. The classes are not made to simply teach how to draw or play an instrument. They can really help students focus in on their core studies and even outperform their non-artistic counterparts. To further prove this point, 159 students in Germany were put through an eight month long study to measure the effects that the arts had on reading performance. The groups were divided into: music

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training, art training, and no training. The final results came with outstanding results, with the children in music having the most significant increase in reading skills And indeed, childrens ability to appreciate the rhythmic aspect of speech is correlated with the ease with which they learn to read, even when controlling for phonemic awareness (Strauss). As presented, children are not only keeping time by tapping their feet to the rhythm of the drum but are also tapping feet in order to develop the essential tools needed to grasp concepts in all of their school. So then why are these programs being taken away? Since children are not being formally tested in their art classes, the programs are much more vulnerable of being cut. This is due to the No Child Left Behind law that was passed under President Bush which states that schools must administer standardized tests and stay within acceptable scores. Schools do not want to fall behind and that is effecting the programs more than anything. The administrators believe that if kids are taken out of the arts, than they will be able to focus more on core subjects such as math and reading and in turn perform better on the required standardized tests. The problem with this is that the facts do not show that these assumptions have any value whatsoever. A study by The College Entrance Examination Board from Princeton, N.J., a very respectable source for accurate findings, did research on specific test scores that students with music experience had obtained in high school. The results concluded that, Students with coursework/experience in music performance and music appreciation scored higher on the SAT: students in music performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal and 41 points higher on the math, and students in music appreciation scored 63 points higher on verbal and 44 points higher on the math, than did students with no arts participation (The Republican). These scores do more than show the benefits of music to students, they prove the relevance that art brings to the table and more importantly why they should be kept in the system. Since the goal is to raise test scores

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than there is not one respectable reason to believe that the programs should not be offered. Yet, others seem to believe that the school will save money by getting rid of the school band, the dance team that performs at the football games, or even that next musical that your child has been preparing months for. The truth is that schools are actually losing money when the programs are cut. The reason that happens is because of the fact that more staff needs to then be hired, which means more pay checks and less money. To add further, schools that remove the arts have more trouble with discipline within and outside of the classroom. Students are more likely to be truant and be involved with gangs and vandalism when they cannot rely on their music or acting to give them proper guidance. The grand effect of large disciplinary issues is that more staff must then be hired to deal with all of the troublesome students. So once more, the school budget is declining further. And this all escalates from the time that the arts are cut from the picture. Not everything however is about the financial aspects or the politics. It is ultimately about the children and how they are personally affected by these changes. The personal effects on a child, like the liberation that the sound of a trumpet during the halftime show brings, or the reenactment of a dramatic scene in Hamlet, resonates for a child more than many would imagine. These are the childrens passions and they are consistently being taken away, and for many young ones, that reality is devastating. A personal quote from an aspiring young saxophonist Ravi Giberson, a fifth-grader of Cook-Wissahickon Middle School, reveals what he thinks about the situation and his feelings about music being out of his schedule. In one simple message Ravi states, Music is fun. I really like it. I cant imagine it, but Im pretty sure life without music would be horrible (Muse). More than anything else, these students want and need something that they can enjoy through their school and take pride in. That being said, it is simple to see that arts need to stay.

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Students that have a strong passion for the art programs receive more benefits than they are given credit for. From succeeding in their core subjects to setting an example for other misguided students, the children are what schools need to focus on, not the money. The financial aspects should not be a primary concern since the art students are positively affecting the finance. It is the students who are the individuals who tend to be the most driven and least disruptive in the classroom. They maintain a balance in staff and overall student behavior that schools should be fighting to keep. Therefore, what these children bring to the education system make it quite clear that the entire community suffers when the arts are no longer there.

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Work Cited Hawkins, Tyleah. "Will Less Art and Music in the Classroom Really Help Students Soar Academically?" Washington Post. The Washington Post, 28 Dec. 2012. Web. 08 Oct. 2013. Strauss, Valerie. "Music Education Helps Kids Learn to Read-study." The Washington Post. N.p., 24 June 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2013. "Fine Arts Programs Being Cut at Schools across Western Mass." The Republican. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2013. Muse, Queen. "Budget Cuts Set to Silence the Music at Philly Schools." NBC 10 Philadelphia. NBC, 21 June 2013. Web. 08 Oct. 2013. <http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Philly-Students-

Face-Uncertainties-School-Cutbacks-Music-212290071.html>.