Be it resolved that we, the undersigned, agree that all Americans should work to enhance and support music education in our nation's schools. To that end, we call on the U.S. Department of Education and all American leaders to: -Mandate that music and the other arts be part of every child's core curriculum; -Ensure music and the other arts are included as a part of a balanced education addressing the whole child, to prepare them for the creative thinking necessary for success in the work force of the future; -Ensure qualified music teachers and sequential curricula be recognized as the basis for providing all students with substantive education in music and the other arts; -Ensure programs in music and the other arts provide rigorous instruction, monitor progress and performance through meaningful assessment, and take place within a structure of accountability to school officials, parents, and the community. Be it therefore resolved that the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as No Child Left Behind, not only identify music as a core subject, but also recognize music education as a mandatory component of every public education curriculum in the United States of America.
Be it resolved that we, the undersigned, agree that all Americans should work to enhance and support music education in our nation's schools. To that end, we call on the U.S. Department of Education and all American leaders to: -Mandate that music and the other arts be part of every child's core curriculum; -Ensure music and the other arts are included as a part of a balanced education addressing the whole child, to prepare them for the creative thinking necessary for success in the work force of the future; -Ensure qualified music teachers and sequential curricula be recognized as the basis for providing all students with substantive education in music and the other arts; -Ensure programs in music and the other arts provide rigorous instruction, monitor progress and performance through meaningful assessment, and take place within a structure of accountability to school officials, parents, and the community. Be it therefore resolved that the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as No Child Left Behind, not only identify music as a core subject, but also recognize music education as a mandatory component of every public education curriculum in the United States of America.
Be it resolved that we, the undersigned, agree that all Americans should work to enhance and support music education in our nation's schools. To that end, we call on the U.S. Department of Education and all American leaders to: -Mandate that music and the other arts be part of every child's core curriculum; -Ensure music and the other arts are included as a part of a balanced education addressing the whole child, to prepare them for the creative thinking necessary for success in the work force of the future; -Ensure qualified music teachers and sequential curricula be recognized as the basis for providing all students with substantive education in music and the other arts; -Ensure programs in music and the other arts provide rigorous instruction, monitor progress and performance through meaningful assessment, and take place within a structure of accountability to school officials, parents, and the community. Be it therefore resolved that the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as No Child Left Behind, not only identify music as a core subject, but also recognize music education as a mandatory component of every public education curriculum in the United States of America.
We signed the "Petition for Equal Access to Music Education" petition!
# 19,340:
8:44 am PDT, Jun 16,Brandon George, Ohio
# 19,339:
11:58 pm PDT, Jun 15,David Sall, Oregon
# 19,338:
11:56 pm PDT, Jun 15,Roger Olson, Colorado
# 19,336:
11:32 pm PDT, Jun 15,Eric Anderson, Ohio
My name is Eric Anderson I am an incoming junior at Oberlin College and Conservatory, working towards degrees in Clarinet Performance and English. I am also currently at the Aspen Music Festival and School on a full ride fellowship. Without a doubt, I owe every bit of any success and enthusiasm pertaining to music at the collegiate level to my my middle school, junior high, and high school band and orchestra programs. Especially at New Trier High School, in Winnetka IL, the amazing teachers, resources, and ensembles helped foster not only a true passion for music, but they also shaped me into a more disciplined, analytical, and balanced student and person. I am truly grateful for the amazing musical education I have received and hope that every child will have access to the same opportunities I was blessed with.
# 19,337:
11:30 pm PDT, Jun 15,Thomas Chapman, Colorado
As a teacher and lifelong student of music I believe every child should have the chance to experience music and take their experience as far as the individual would like. We live in a time where society tells its members that performance of music is only for the elite and the rest of us must sit here in awe of those with ability. Only education can overcome this and only equal education that gives the student a chance to explore their own feelings and learn about music to develop their own enjoyment, understanding, and appreciation for this art through performance and experience.
# 19,335:
9:14 pm PDT, Jun 15,Sean Thomas, Louisiana
# 19,334:
8:19 pm PDT, Jun 15,Name not displayed, California
my average middle class students and my immigrant students along with all of their parents would just beam with accomplishment and pride when the community lauded their muscial accomplishments in band, orchestra, and choir. For those moments they were "superstars" as much as the athletic heroes of the school!
# 19,333:
8:16 pm PDT, Jun 15,Zachary Eymann, Illinois
Music is fundamental for learning anything! Music students are well-rounded individuals who need to continue on to touch others' lives... put music in a high position, or we all may lose out on a lot.
# 19,332:
8:05 pm PDT, Jun 15,Tammy Lantis, Oregon
# 19,331:
8:02 pm PDT, Jun 15,Janice LaCombe, Oregon
Music is what made life bearable when I was in school.
# 19,330:
7:39 pm PDT, Jun 15,Doug Fischer, California
I'm a music educator in Tustin. Due to the horrible state of our economy in California, our elementary music program was eliminated and replaced with an after-school program run by the district, the Tustin Public School's Foundation, and the City Parks and Rec. Dept. 3 of my colleagues lost their jobs.
# 19,329:
7:35 pm PDT, Jun 15,Marcia Mayhew, Pennsylvania
My entire life has been influenced by the powers of music!! I taught music in the public schools for 33 years, played in orchestras, sang in choirs, organized performances and taught it privately. Even as an infant in the playpen I used music -- I hummed a tune over and over that apparently I created because no one recognized it as something they knew!!
# 19,328:
7:28 pm PDT, Jun 15,Name not displayed, Texas
# 19,327:
7:24 pm PDT, Jun 15,Givonna Joseph, Louisiana
It has been my pleasure ot bring music into the lives of young people for many years now. I have seen loves change. But it has been frustrating to see the separation between the arts and the core curricullum. We music teachers have been an underused resource, when music has the greatest access to the brain that any other subject. It is time to give it its rightful place in Education
Thank you.
Givonn Jospeh
# 19,326:
7:23 pm PDT, Jun 15,Tish Haldeman, Virginia
I was educated in parochial schools, and music and other arts were basically ignored. Music is a foundation stone to enhance and simplify other knowledge - it supports the process of learning both math and language. I feel behind the curve in many respects because I did not have the opportunity to learn music in school, and my parents could not afford private lessons. It would be a travesty on many levels to de-emphasize the arts in general, but music in particular.
# 19,325:
7:15 pm PDT, Jun 15,James Henson, California
# 19,324:
7:03 pm PDT, Jun 15,Kaya Martinez, Louisiana
Having been a public school music educator and general classroom teacher in urban schools since 1997, I can affirm that it is no exaggeration to say that music education saves lives. For all its intrinsic and extrinsic benefits, this truth speaks most profoundly of the awesome transformative power of quality music education programs in our public schools.
# 19,323:
7:02 pm PDT, Jun 15,Alexander Lucas, Arizona
# 19,322:
6:52 pm PDT, Jun 15,Name not displayed, New York
# 19,321:
6:44 pm PDT, Jun 15,Name not displayed, Pennsylvania
# 19,320:
6:37 pm PDT, Jun 15,Kristin Bodendorfer, Ohio
It breaks my heart to think that there are gifted children out there that have such a hunger for music and can not have the opprotunity to be exposed to it. This is such a self esteem builder for a child and can create a well rounded secure adult.
# 19,319:
6:29 pm PDT, Jun 15,Louis Wolford, California
# 19,318:
6:21 pm PDT, Jun 15,Name not displayed, California
I believe music and other arts are mandatory to build up a complete person - body, mind, and soul. I believe every person should have the right to receive an education that is complete in expression and not just academics alone. We are created beings with the need to create. We can't do that by text alone. The "Freedoms" we live under and by are not to be kept hidden, but explored, developed and utilized in such a way as to build one another up, to service one another, and to leave no one behind. If life is to be worth living, then we need something and someone to live for, especially family and friends who can hold our hand when we falter at any step along the way. Music and academics together actually help us to learn better. Not just music alone, but all the creative means available to use. We need well rounded people in the workforce, not robots. Incorporation of who we are is necessary and vital for every being to grow, become, and do all they were born to accomplish. So many children are much brighter than the level of education they receive that they become bored, drop out, and society may think them slow or stupid or trouble-makers. They're not if given the chance to learn beyond a "spoon-fed" mentality. I bare my heart in asking you to please reach out to the whole person and not just their mind. There is nothing more important to enhance the learning process than to experience the accomplishments that come with it. Again, text alone is not the answer. Everyone enjoys a good song, poem, or piece of artwork and there, in and of itself, is a world of different venues to be explored. What purpose does it serve to shut-down someone with a different style than our own? Who are we to say what someone else can or cannot do based on one's bias? Let our children live, laugh, and love again by returning all of the arts to our education system so that they will find reason to complete their education and become a vital part of the community they live in.
# 19,317:
6:16 pm PDT, Jun 15,Name not displayed, California
# 19,316:
6:10 pm PDT, Jun 15,Natasha Jaffe, Florida
Music in the classroom has made it possible for me to go to college as a well-rounded individual!!! I chose not to go to a regular public high school and instead went to a magnet school in order to be provided with music. Also, I have always found that people who are at least exposed to music have more of a drive to perform better, to do better in classes, to have friends and make friends, and most especially to stay alive, healthy, and happy! I am sure it is documented somewhere that music programs in inner-city schools have a positive impact.
Music is not just an expendable "unnecessary" part of childrens' education. We are in the United States a culture heavily influenced by our music, whether you would agree that the "great musicians" are classical, jazz, rock, country, hip-hop, and more. It doesn't matter what sort of music is taught in schools, only that it IS taught. If our "American Idol" participants had been trained in school, perhaps they would do better. If the audience members watching the show were educated in music, their votes would be just as important as the opinions of the judges! Music was a critical part of the Classical Greek education, and it was carried on through the Romans and the Catholic Church during the Dark Ages and it managed to survive the Industrial Revolution, the Cold War, and the Great Depression (among many other historical events!!). We need music to live full lives; we should offer our children the opportunity to learn about it in school.
Music has influenced every possible aspect of my life and has made me a well-rounded individual. Let this happen to all of our public school children!
# 19,315:
5:40 pm PDT, Jun 15,Name not displayed, California
# 19,314:
5:34 pm PDT, Jun 15,Holly Seales, Alabama
My elementary music teacher changed my life and now I am an elementary music teacher. We NEED this!!!!!!
# 19,313:
5:22 pm PDT, Jun 15,Rosette Finneran, New York
# 19,311:
4:57 pm PDT, Jun 15,Kenneth Douglas, Maryland
If it weren't for Chorus and Piano in high school, i don't think i would have the love and appreciation I have for music today
# 19,312:
4:50 pm PDT, Jun 15,Maria La Fosse, Iowa
# 19,310:
4:45 pm PDT, Jun 15,Name not displayed, New York
# 19,309:
4:36 pm PDT, Jun 15,Melissa Mahn, Arizona
Music has opened many doors in my career. Because of my participation in my public school's orchestra, I've played in weddings, retirement homes, performed for my state's legislature, recorded soundtracks at Disney, and fiddled all over Arizona. These experiences are the most memorable from my whole education and I really treasure them. They've boosted my understanding of the world, life AND my self-esteem. I want every child to have the same opportunity. Music is life-changing.
# 19,308:
4:33 pm PDT, Jun 15,Geoffrey Greene, Illinois
# 19,307:
4:14 pm PDT, Jun 15,Jymi Rafi, Georgia
# 19,306:
4:14 pm PDT, Jun 15,Delores Hunter, South Carolina
Music provides such important development to students, please provide for the overall growth of the child.
# 19,305:
4:11 pm PDT, Jun 15,Peter Williams, Missouri
# 19,304:
3:56 pm PDT, Jun 15,Name not displayed, Missouri
# 19,303:
3:56 pm PDT, Jun 15,Mary Lou Spencer-Averitt, Texas
It is VERY important to maintain the exposure and education of Music in our Schools. Please give our children to opportunites they deserve to this endeavor.
# 19,302:
3:47 pm PDT, Jun 15,James Bayard DuBois, Washington
# 19,301:
3:27 pm PDT, Jun 15,Name not displayed, California
Music provides enrichment for the spirit, relaxation for the body and has transcended the generations to today. A liberal education includes music because it is a human endeavor that expands intellectual horizons.
