Advocacy

In these days of constant competition for funding, time in the school day, and competition for students, music teachers sometimes find themselves at a loss to explain the value of participation in a choir for four years of high school and three years of middle school. We are often viewed as the "fun" class where the students do not have to do any "real" work. We are given the students no one else wants because "everyone can sing, can't they?" Special-needs students are mainstreamed into our classes without our consent, without proper funding to provide for their needs, and without adequate help in preparing to deal with them or assisting them to be successful in our classes.

We often work in poorly maintained class areas with insufficient funding, antiquated materials, no textbooks, and limited, if any, attention from administration. We seldom receive in-service in our fields yet we are expected to provide full support for any initiatives from any other subject matter. It does not matter than "No Child Left Behind" identifies music as a core course; because we are not tested, we are not given consideration.

In spite of these circumstances we succeed against all odds putting out successful student performance-based learning into the public eye numerous times a year. Our students are happier than most, do better statistically at school overall, and are considered prime candidates for career options both in and out of the music field. The links below will connect you to advocacy information that will be useful to parents, teachers, students, administration, and anyone wanting to support music in the schools.

NOTE: ETVA takes no responsibility for the content found at these links, nor for problems with the sites. If you discover a link to be broken, please report it to the webmaster.

Advocacy Links

• American Music Conference
  • http://www.amc-music.com
  • See “Research Briefs” for short factoids on authoritative research results showing value of music education.
• Support Music
  • http://www.supportmusic.com
  • Site sponsored by the National Music Educators Conference and the National Association of Music Merchants. There are many valuable items of interest here including a printable brochure of relevant research facts showing value of music education and other tools for advocacy.
• MENC Advocacy Site
  • http://www.menc.org/resources/view/music-education-advocacy-central
  • Links to several items of interest
• Children’s Music Workshop
  • http://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/advocacy/
  • Lots of information in different areas supporting music ed.
• ECS ArtsScan database
  • http://www.ecs.org/html/educationIssues/ArtsinEducation/ArtscanDB_intro.asp
  • A searchable database allowing you to see the arts requirements and other such information for all 50 states.