Letter to the Editor

This week there was an article in the Carroll County times about the budget for next school year.  The article paraphrased a community member who suggested our school district has excessive arts offerings and should look to the arts as an area to trim the budget.  The link is here if you want to read it.  I wrote this letter to the editor in response . . . 

Letter to the Editor in Response to:

Residents, Board Members Comment on Budget

By Alisha George

Published January 26, 2012

Dear Carroll County Times,

I was dismayed to read the suggestion by a community member that Carroll County Public Schools should look to the arts as the place to reduce electives and trim the budget.  With the increased emphasis on standardized testing and the traditional three “R’s”, some have lost sight of the inherent worth of that very essential fourth “R”—the aRts.  As we prepare our students to be college and career ready, I hope our community will remember that human beings are more than just the grades we earn or the jobs we perform.  Our true value lies in the compassion, beauty, and understanding that we bring to our fellow human beings-- all emotions that are nurtured through the arts. 

Beyond this, it would be shortsighted to assume that the arts are not careers for which we should be preparing our students.  Every time we turn on the radio, watch a movie, or enjoy the graphics on our computer screen, we are benefiting from the hard work of someone who chose the arts as a career.  Musicians, actors, dancers and visual artists are the most obvious of these; but let us not forget sound engineers, graphic artists, video game designers, choreographers, music therapists, interior designers, writers, fashion designers, photographers, and museum curators, just to name a few.

I am personally very grateful that my children will have the benefit of a diverse arts education in Carroll County.  I encourage everyone in our community to learn more about the arts programs in our schools.  Check out a concert.  Attend a drama production or an art exhibit.  I think you will see that our young people have amazing talent and potential, which is being nurtured every day by some very dedicated arts teachers. Let us do all that we can to support their efforts and ensure strong arts programs for our students.

Sincerely,

Maggie Fischer
Music Advocates of Carroll County
www.musicadvocatescc.com

Dear School Administrator . . .

I wrote this letter as a member of the Music Advocates of Carroll County.  We sent it to the principals at every middle and high school in our county.  Will it have an impact?  I don't know.  But I do know that doing nothing gets us nowhere.  Speak up!  Let our schools know that the community values arts education.

Dear Principal,

Happy New Year from the Music Advocates of Carroll County!  As the scheduling process for the 2012-2013 school year begins, we wanted to take a moment to thank you for your efforts to ensure that students have access to a high quality music education.

As the school principal, you wield powerful influence over the strength of the ________Music Program.  Your leadership makes it possible to:

• Create schedules that give students access to music classes.
• Offer curricular performing ensembles that meet consistently during the entire school year.
• Offer opportunities for consistent, specialized instruction such as through sectional rehearsals.
• Foster an environment where the accomplishments of music students are celebrated.
• Educate non-music teachers about the value of the arts as core subjects.

In an era when there is so much pressure to raise standardized test scores, please know that many of us in the community value the arts and the richness of experience that these “non-tested” subjects bring to our young people.  We appreciate your efforts to strengthen the music program at _________.  We hope that as students begin the scheduling process, they will be given every opportunity to participate in a high-quality, standards-based, sequential program of music study.

Thank you for your support of our young musicians!

Sincerely,

Maggie Fischer

Music Advocates of Carroll County

School districts with strong arts education programs report that superintendents and school principals who collectively support and regularly articulate a vision for arts education are critically important to the successful implementation and stability of district arts education policies. (“Gaining the Arts Advantage,” The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, 1999)