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SBOCommentary
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The Real “Crisis” in This Budget Crisis BY TRACY LEENMAN
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here is no doubt that our schools are facing a budget crisis; virtually 100 percent of the nation’s schools are currently up against the same problem. But any crisis is also a potential opportunity. In this case, the opportunity is for
school boards and administrators to take a fresh look at our educational goals, educational policies, and educational practices, and to re-evaluate what is truly important and what is not, to decide what truly works and what does not. And then, it’s an opportunity to find new and creative ways to ensure the best possible education for our children. In some cases, it’s even an opportunity to reassess and re-define what comprises “the best possible education for our children.”
30 School Band and Orchestra, July 2010
What is it we want our children to learn in school? We see many straightA students unable to correlate their knowledge to real-life experiences, unable to adapt to our changing – and sometimes scary – world. So, we look for ways to make our children’s education “relevant.” Technology is “relevant,” math and science are “relevant,” we say. But then, the nation’s top companies say that the characteristics they desire most in future employees, the skills they consider most relevant to real-world success, are well-developed communication and interpersonal skills, a willingness to work to achieve excellence, and the ability to solve problems in creative and flexible ways – in other words, a totally different skill set. Interestingly enough, these characteristics so sought after by top corporations are all things that are fostered and developed in the music classroom, which is also one of the first places administrators look to make cuts in times of “crisis.” A common kneejerk reaction to budget cuts is to look first at eliminating programs like the arts, which are often deemed “extracurricular” by uninformed administrators, educators, and parents alike. According to the ESEA (Elementary & Secondary Education Act), the arts are defined as a “core academic sub-