Education Reform in and through the Arts

Michael Greene, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences, Inc.

If we are to stop the erosion that has decimated arts education in this country, we must effectively articulate the role that the arts play in addressing questions of diversity, access, and equity. In recent years, the professional and media discourse surrounding the nation's educational system has reinforced the idea of two competing ideological viewpoints. These two camps are represented, most typically, as

1. the back-to-basics conservatives who pray to the gods of math, science, and Eurocentricity and
   
2. the dark nemesis of free-thinking radicals who are hell-bent on trashing the canons and rule books in order to make room for multiculturalism and self-expression.

While the debate will continue to generate lengthy tracts for years to come, this "either or" approach is in fact a false dichotomy. It is the result of an outmoded worldview in which everything is reduced to black or white. This "black or white" mentality must be replaced with an inclusive educational agenda that engages both sides of a person's brain and sacrifices neither discipline nor personal expression. We must codify new canons that play to the strengths of our heterogeneous society. We must redeploy our nation's resources in a way that ensures our cultural survival. We must break down these principles into tasks that each community and each school system can implement.

At the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, through such vehicles as the televised Grammy Awards, we are calling attention to these issues. A major part of what the Academy does centers around monitoring the cultural environment for music and art in this country. And it has become clear that there are major challenges and opportunities facing music and art and the educational community in general.

For too many children in the nation's school system, the opportunity to learn about America's rich musical heritage and participate in school music programs has been severed—casualties in war of narrow mind-sets and misappropriated resources. This has been caused by an erosion of America's cultural values. In its rush to catch up with other countries, the United States has squandered the very qualities that helped to set this country apart from all other countries in terms of artistic innovation. There is a good reason why such companies as Sony, Philips, Bertelsmann, and Matsushita spend billions of dollars buying this nation's record companies and archives. They realize that Americans are the supreme creators and purveyors of art as it relates to media.

One of the most important ways in which to enthuse children about music is to help them both intellectually and emotionally gain access to and reconnect with the music of this nation and the music of their own cultural groups. In the summer of 1992, after the Los Angeles disturbances, a youth summit involving some 1,200 of the area's youngsters was convened. So often, what was heard during this summit were children describing a slow but steady reduction of arts in their school programs until all arts programs in South Central Los Angeles had disappeared entirely. One girl described how her music class had been the one place she could regain her identity and find strength. The elimination of the music class eliminated her emotional context for success. Soon afterward, she dropped out of school.

Cutting arts programs out of a curriculum is tantamount to shutting off the access to these children's identity. Such actions remove the humanity from a child's education. Singer/songwriter Roseanne Cash has described a similar experience in her schooling. As a student, she was allowed almost no room for personal expression. She said that her artistic side was not valued or validated by her educators, and she spent her formative years feeling like a freak of nature.

It has been estimated that nationwide, during 1993, more than 300,000 children will drop out of school. We are facing a profound crisis. Innovative ways of keeping these students engaged must be developed. Some schools have begun to turn the tide on falling grades and dropouts by again requiring arts and music curricula. For instance, one of the poorest schools in the South Bronx is Saint Augustine's, a Catholic school. In 1985, it faced the prospect of closing due to low enrollment. To increase enrollment and student interest levels, the school administration made art and music a central part of the curriculum. Enrollment tripled, and reading and math scores improved by 28 percent. The improvement shown by these students is mirrored throughout the country, whether then be in remote rural settings or stark urban environments. Wherever music and art are a mandated part of the curriculum, students engage in all their classwork at higher levels.

By imagining music and art as isolated from or superfluous to the "traditional" core courses, we deny children the tools that they need to have. It is no accident that the countries succeeding in preparing their students for the twenty-first century already recognize music and art as vital means of teaching fundamental skills. It took more than fifteen years to undermine arts education in this country—and we're not going to remedy it in two or three years.

Ernest Boyer of the Carnegie Foundation said:

The arts are an essential part of human experience; they are not a frill. We recommend that all students study the arts to discover how human beings communicate, not only with worlds but through music, dance, and the visual arts. Now, more than ever, all people need to see clearly, hear acutely, and feel sensitively through the arts. These skills are no longer just desirable; they are essential if we are to survive with civility and joy.

We are faced with some potential outcomes about which we must ask, "What then of civility and joy?" We could refuse to recognize that the arts are basic to what it means to be an educated human being. We could keep the arts as the pet sacrificial lamb of the educational budget. Fewer and fewer of our children would receive an education in the arts, and they would not learn how to listen to music or understand visual arts. The viselike pressures on the educational dollar might continue their squeeze. What then? Only the school districts having the biggest tax bases will survive. Only those having an entrenched arts program will continue to grow. Only the school boards, superintendents, and principals who already care will ensure that civility and joy are passed to our children.

If present trends continue, music and art will become a privilege tied to family and class economics—the beginnings of a cultural caste system. Music and art will no longer be cultural treasures of the country or in any of the states. Music and art will cease to unify but instead will divide. Instead of a tool for self-discovery, art will become a source of alienation.

Today, music and art education are increasingly being made available only to the privileged. In our inner cities, where low tax bases and massive education cutbacks have left educational institutions in shambles, children know nothing of their musical heritage. They know nothing of their history, their roots. They have no sense of pride about the fact that jazz music, rock and roll, African music, folk music, and blues music are all part of their collective culture.

As we address these questions, it is essential that we avoid getting bogged down in the old dichotomies. We must continue to emphasize the importance of cultural diversity, teach improvisational skills along with sight reading, and empower individual teachers to employ innovative instructional techniques. We are at a crossroads, and we have the opportunity to change. If, over the next six months, we reach any lower than the highest-possible plateau, we are making a big mistake. A strong, unified voice is required to convince the Clinton administration to set the tone, making arts and music prerequisites for high school graduation.

Together, and only together, will we see the arts restored to their proper place in America's educational system. The time has come to set aside personal and political differences. We must chart the future for our children by giving them a comprehensive, multifaceted arts education. The arts will ensure the vitality of our educational system and our culture. We can accept nothing less.

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