California Music Crisis- A Time for Action

According to California Department of Education data compiled by the Music for All Foundation in a report entitled “The Sound of Silence: The Unprecedented Decline of Music Education in California Public Schools,” the percentage of students participating in music courses has declined by half over the last five years—a slide that is dramatically worse than in any other academic discipline. Even in the tough times that all California institutions face today, this music crisis stands out as a desperate situation.

Film and recording artist Justin Guarini on KTTV Fox News

Yet in its draft report to the governor, the California Performance Review (CPR) proposed to make the situation even worse—by proposing a second graduation pathway that would remove the arts requirement for high school graduation in California.

On September 9, AMC and several partner organizations including MENC, The National Association for Music Education; NARAS, The Recording Academy; CMEA, the California Association for Music Education; the California Alliance for Arts Education; and the Music for All Foundation lent their support at the CPR’s public hearing in Los Angeles to support school-based music programs and encourage parents, educators and members of the general public to raise their voices on this important issue.

In addition to detailing these findings on the state music crisis, the coalition of music advocates unveiled a five-point call to action at the hearing. Chief among the group’s recommendations was a call for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to appoint a special panel to examine the situation and to make specific recommendations by a fixed date.

The group’s other recommendations included urging local school boards not to let the federal “No Child Left Behind” law inadvertently interfere with music education, a position consistent with a July, 2004 letter from U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige; calling upon local educators to emulate the models of other California communities where music education is strong despite limited resources; urging local school districts to ask the state to make better use of federal grant monies; and calling for parents and other members of the public to become activists in their own home districts.

“It is unfortunate that in this great state, over half a million children will not have experienced the joys of learning and sharing music in public school classrooms,” says CMEA President Dr. Robert Klevan. “It is clear from the data reported in ‘The Sound of Silence’ that the years of cutting back programs, pink slipping music teachers, and eventually eliminating music teaching jobs in this state has taken its toll. Now is the time to act and move to reverse this downward trend.”

The California school music crisis attracted the attention of several prominent music professionals including film and recording artist Justin Guarini, who did an interview with Fox News’ Good Day LA. Through the AMC Web site, California residents were able to send away for a free Music Education Advocates Toolkit. Toolkits are still available for all U.S. residents at www.amc-music.org.