Focus on Budget

eliminating music Programs: the Financial effect

“FocuS oN BudGet: Reverse economics – developing a Fiscal case for Your music Program (Part 2 of 2).” John Benham, Supportmusic.com, may 1, 2008.

“[one] case study … illustrates the financial effect of cutting music programs. In this district the administrative proposal was to eliminate 70% of the orchestra staff, and 48% of the band staff (initially equated to 7.8 F te). However, the district indicated that they would only cut 5.2 F te band and orchestra positions for an anticipated annual savings of $156,000 (based on an average salary figure of $30,000, excluding benefits.)

In the first year of these proposed cuts, all instrumental students in grades 4, 5 and 6, approximately 1800 students, would be eliminated from participation in band and orchestra … the district would have needed to open 29 new classes and hire 6.4 F te classroom teachers to replace the 5.2 F te instrumental teachers to teach former instrumental music students (6.4 F te x $30,000 at a cost of $192,000).

By year five, for all practical purposes, the band and orchestra programs would have collapsed. the district would have needed to hire 12.6 cumulative classroom F te for 63 classes of former instrumental music students at a cost of $378,000. added to the anticipated savings of $156,000 this would have amounted to an annual budget miscalculation (reverse economic effect) of $534,000.”

Susan castillo

State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Part One of Three- Introductory Comments from the All State Middle School Performance, January 2009 over the holidays I had a chance to visit with my grand nephew who is 14 and plays the alto clarinet in his school’s band. In the course of talking about how that is going he said very strongly, “music is really important.” I loved how he expressed himself. the Beatles changed music forever, incorporating wide-ranging influences -- from

When I was a young girl, the Beatles were the biggest thing going. I remember being home on a Sunday night in 1964 and watching them in glorious black and white on t V’s ed Sullivan Show. I remember singing along to songs like “She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” I went out and got their first album, called meet the Beatles. I spent hours staring at their faces on the cover and played the record ‘til the grooves wore out.

I grew up with the Beatles... From the time they started out as four mop-tops singing “Love m e d o” ... to the time when they donned psychedelic suits and pushed the limits of pop music as “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts club Band”... and right to the end, when they let they let their hair grow shaggy and urged us all to “Let It Be.” I stayed a fan through their solo careers and still love their music today.