My Comments to the School Board in Support of Elementary Band

Following are my the remarks that I plan to make to the Jurupa Unified School District School Board in support of continued funding of a band program at the elementary school level. I may be spitting in the wind, the decision has probably already been carved into the marble that is next year's budget, but I need to say something. I would like to thank all those that have offered words of encouragement, support, and their suggestions and sources. I am certain that I could not have come up with this research without you.
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I would like to begin my remarks this evening by reminding the board of how the No Child Left Behind act defines “core curriculum.” The term ‘core curriculum’ means English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography. Education in the arts, education in music, is not merely an enrichment program, but instead an integral part of core curriculum. Please know that when you eliminate elementary band, you have eliminated all band for many students, some of whom would have gone on to be musicians in middle and high school. For those who remain, you have diminished the quality of their musical experience.

I asked some of my former “band buddies” what they got out of being in band, and, as expected, they related experiences that went beyond music. They talked of how it taught them that they could be both competitive and cooperative at the same time. It taught them self-reliance, discipline, and focus. Applying themselves to learning a musical instrument taught them techniques that helped them learn in other academic areas as well. Music has helped others with social skills, giving them a sense of belonging and being a part of a group. So many of the same benefits that kids get out of athletics are also garnered from being a part of a band. But whereas there are so many ways for children to experience athletics, band is the only way that many children are going to gain experiences such as these.

“The plural of anecdote is not data,” however, so let me give you some data. We are often told that musical training helps students in mathematics. As a case in point, there was a group of second grade students who were given piano lessons for four months in addition to training with some new math educational software. The students that received training in both piano and the math software scored 27% higher than those that used the math software alone. But music seems to help in all areas of learning. In a study of undergraduates applying to medical school, Lewis Thomas found that 66% of music majors were admitted, compared to only 44% of biochemistry students. Another study of 7,500 college students found that music majors scored higher in reading than any other major. Would you believe that music actually increases a child’s IQ? At least one study indicates that it does. In it, children were given lessons in either keyboard, voice, drama or no lessons at all. The students who received keyboard or voice lessons saw their IQs increase more dramatically than those who received either drama or no lessons – generally across all subtests, indices, and academic subjects. In Rhode Island, first grade classes containing students who had underachieved in kindergarten received ongoing music and visual arts training in addition to their regular curriculum. After seven months, these students had caught up with their piers in reading, and surpassed them by 22% in math. In the second year of the program they increased these gains.

Are you ready for the speed round? Children with musical training have significantly better verbal memory. A Stanford University study in 2004 showed that mastery of an instrument improves how we process spoken language. Schools that have music programs have significantly higher graduation rates (17% higher), as well as lower dropout rates. Students in high-quality music programs score higher on standardized tests – 22% higher in English and 20% higher in Math. According to the College Board, students with experience in musical performance scored 57 points higher on the verbal portion of the SAT, and 43 points higher on the math. Those of us with a memory of Woodstock might find this next part difficult to believe, but, students who participated in band or orchestra reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances (alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs).

It would seem to me that we should not be looking into cutting any portion of our music program, we should instead be looking to expand it. When I was in elementary school, we had a music teacher visit each class at least once or twice a week. When was the last time that happened? Remember, even No Child Left Behind recognizes that education in the arts is ‘core curriculum,’ and yet we are now eliminating one of the last vestiges of music from the elementary school curriculum. Let me leave you with a thought from someone that I went to high school with – he didn’t recall the source. "You put emphasis on teaching children to read and write but if you take away the arts you leave them very little to read and write about." I don't know how much, in dollars and cents, you will save by eliminating the Elementary Bands, but I have a pretty good idea of what these kids are going to lose.