Therefore, we must advocate for the things that we know DO work. Those include lowering class sizes, improving the quality of the teaching force, and setting high expectations for all students. That's why we select this route instead of a Band-Aid approach like vouchers. This includes the arts. It's unfortunate that there is not a better understanding that these subjects help our students with their knowledge and skills in other areas.
Research shows that students involved in the arts do better in other subjects.
And we also know from employers that students who have had arts education do better in the workplace. Teachers often leave the classroom because they experience a respect shortage. This lack of respect manifests itself in low salaries, lack of meaningful professional development, inability to exercise professional judgment when crucial decisions are being made by the school district, and lack of quality mentoring programs for beginning teachers. If these issues were addressed in meaningful ways, we would not be experiencing such a high turnover rate in teachers. Our surveys show that veteran teachers cite large class size as a major impediment to effective teaching.