Helping you make sense of schooling today November 1999, Vol. Reform Jeanne Allen, President Please contact us to share a unique experience as a parent educating your child or to comment about the contents of this newsletter. W henever a school budget is under the axe, it is presumed that music will be among the first of the budget items to be cut, as if there s no fat in the budget elsewhere. For a long time, communities did not know how to justify why music was important to getting children a solid education. It just somehow made sense.
Many music educators believe that studying music strengthens student s academic performance.
Their research suggests that the continuous building of music skills as part the curriculum can significantly improve a child s performance in reading and math. It s an argument which parents who favor music education have had a hard time making. But they shouldn t have to struggle so hard. Music is a rigorous discipline. Music teachers, of course, will tell you that it is an essential part of any balanced curriculum, and they have some substantial evidence to back up this claim.