Hillary Meyer's speech at the Sep 25 School Board Meeting Oct 14. 2012 | Comments (2)
I am here to express my disappointment and frustration with this administration with
the phasing out and reduction of Art programs. I feel that, just like with the closing of
Rogers School, another rushed decision has been made without consulting parents or the
public.
This week I have learned that the Suzuki Violin program is out and new Strings lessons
are in, but not for very long. Apparently this decision was made last spring, but not given
as a mandate, so no parents were notified of this change. Why was that? And now no
new students are allowed to sign up, including kids that took Suzuki lessons from other
sources, even though they were included in the district wide year-end concert. I happen
to know that this affects several JPS teachers and their families.
Another change and issue is the scheduling of these lessons. We know that students
cannot miss any ELA or Math. But what I don’t like is that the student must take
this lesson in the place of a Music or Art class. You can’t justify that learning a string
instrument is the equivalent of a lesson in Art. In my opinion, Art and Music aren’t being
offered enough to the children as it is.
My youngest is a Kindergartener this year. For the past two years she has watched her
big sister practice, perform in a year end concert/recital, and attended all her weekly
violin instruction classes during the school day. I wish the person that made this decision
was the one to break the news to her the other night when I had to tell her that she isn’t
allowed to sign up. I am not joking at all when I say that she is heartbroken. She
doesn’t understand why her sister got this opportunity in Kindergarten and still is, while
she doesn’t. Frankly, I’m not so sure I understand either. I pay my taxes. So why does
one child get the benefit of musical enrichment and the other does not?
Obviously, not everyone can afford art or music classes at Infinity and it’s just not the
same as learning with your peers. It pushes the minority and disadvantaged students
further away. What this district needs is Early Intervention with the Arts along with
Reading and Math. It works! Plus, it has been proven that the Arts benefit education
more than constant drills and testing ever will.
What ever happened to a well-rounded education? Can’t a Focus School have reading,
math and enrichment through the arts? Should this school district be proud that Arts
have been cut back and this violin program be phased out completely in a few years
time? Are we proud that the best performing elementary school has been closed and the
remaining schools are now Focus Schools? We can’t keep blaming everything on the
budget. We need the Superintendent and School Board to be more pro-active instead of
reactive to these state mandates. Our hands aren’t tied. They just need to work a little
harder at figuring out a solution to help the kids learn better (and enjoy it!)
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