April 03, 2005
The arts are a crucial component of an intelligent school curriculum.
"Without incorporating arts education, our children will not be prepared for success and survival in the world community we live in. The arts broaden our perception of the world, utilize our brains more fully and train us to look for a variety of solutions. The arts bring joy into lives that are not always full of sun.
I am deeply concerned about the impact on the future lives of children in lower middle class families as well as children living in poverty who will be denied access to orchestral music if the strings program is cut for 4th & 5th grades.
I grew up in a family of six children, in a blue collar family in north central Wisconsin. There was no extra money for private lessons, but all of us played an instrument beginning in 4th grade, and continuing through high school graduation. We continue to value music in our adult lives. That early music education broadened our perspectives, and enriched our lives in so many different ways."
String Survey - Parent Comment
Timing Of The One-Year Operating Referendum
Timing is everything. Timing is the reason that I believe a one-year operating referendum has a better chance of passage than a two or three year referendum.
Since being elected to the Madison school board last year, it has been very clear to me that many people in our community are educated in school board politics via local media. Unfortunately, television snippets, radio sound bites and newspaper articles rarely tell the entire story. However, in the March 31st Opinion section of the Wisconsin State Journal gets the story right! The article states, “Tapping property taxpayers for more money is a regrettable option, but the finger of blame does not point to the board. Rather, outdated and unproductive state school financing rules are at fault. They put school districts like Madison's in a no-win situation. In response, the School Board, with a few exceptions, has been taking the right approach. By cutting, combining and conserving, the board has held down spending while keeping school quality high.” Thank you Wisconsin State Journal for telling readers the truth!
I support the one-year operating referendum because I believe it is the right thing to do and the right time given the other referenda on the ballot (building a new school and maintenance being the other two). I am also sympathetic to community concerns regarding higher property taxes and the uneasiness that leaves in the community’s sense of economic security. For instance, gas prices are increasing, President Bush is advocating privatizing social security and many lawmakers are still promoting the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR).
The timing for any school board referendum will never be optimal. However, it is important to make any referenda as palatable as possible for as many people as possible. Given our circumstances, the time to do that is for one year. That time will be on Tuesday May 24th.
Strings Festival Photos (Madison West High School)
 | West High School April 2, 2005   Video/Audio (MP3) (thanks to Denny Lund for taking these pictures) |
Let the String Teachers Stick to Music Education
"It is unreasonable that the strings program in MMSD should be the target of cuts every year, when it is demonstrated OVER AND OVER that it is a successful program musically, it helps with academic progress, and it is a boon to economically disadvantaged students. Will the School Board please allow the string teachers in the district stick to music education rather than fighting for the existence of a proven program?"
from comments - String Survey
String Survey - Comments
Take the string survey - results will be tabulated and forwarded to the school board. I'll be posting comments from the survey on this website:
survey comment response: "Don't cut music. I was never in a strings program, but rather played trombone. I think that my experiences in music helped shape my teenage years more than probably any other factor. I think it would be sad to see it go. 4th grade is not too young to learn music; and early start allows them to be interested in music before they are overwhelmed by too many other things."
String Orchestra Festival Soars Despite District Administration Annual Assault
The annual string festival is a reminder of how wonderful music education is, and of how important this is for our children's education. This annual spring event is also a reminder of how badly the existing School Board is failing our children. Lawrie Kobza, school board candidate for Seat 6, wrote, "Fourth and fifth grade strings is a well-established, much-loved, and much-supported program. There is also significant research demonstrating a high correlation between playing an instrument and achievement. Given all of these positives, the 4th & 5th grades strings program should not be considered for cuts until the district does everything possible it can to retain or if necessary restructure the program so that strings can continue to be offered in 4th and 5th grades even in times of tight finances." This is Lawrie's approach - not settling for the status quo, working together creatively for what we value for our kids's education. I am voting for her on Tuesday, April 5th, because the strings festival, sports, academics would all benefit from her talents on the school board. The status quo is not working locally - the longer we stay with the status quo, the more our kids will suffer.
The 39th string festival that was held yesterday was inspiring and an experience that children and parents alike will hold dearly in their memories. Consider, when the first elementary string orchestra was taught in 1969 Madison, there were was not even 100 students. Today, the total student population has not changed all that much and the elementarys string orchestra has grown to nearly 2,000 students - 1,866 students this year.
Yet, each year students, parents and teachers are left to wonder - what is going on? It is not simply about money, it is not even about scheduling. The Superintendent is not considering children's learning and achievement - he has no clue about the benefit to children's learning of this curriculum. He has has spent every year since he has been Superintendent using one lame excuse after another trying to cut this program, remaining deaf to the children, parents and city of madison. Why can he "get away with this?" On this and many other trends that are troubling in our school district. Rainwater has a compliant school board and he loves it, who wouldn't.
Shipping this curriculum to MSCR would destroy the music education instrumental curriculum. Setting up private lessons to supplement what children learn in school would add to the learning experience, having small group lessons would complement the program. The spring performance yesterday was the culmination of a semester's work for children - they memorized all those songs. There were complicated skills, etc., that was included in that work. Think of how much learning they absorbed into their minds!
The Rainwater budget excuse to cut the program is not supported by the data, a possible impact on test scores is not supported by the data, and even the scheduling is not supported when teachers are left to work out the issues. Leopold Elementary is an example of a school where the new teacher has done a phenomonal job of working out the scheduling with teachers and the demand for the curriculum and participation has soared.
So, what does the current superintendent and school board approve - an increase in the administrative budget these past 2 years of $1.4 million - the number of administrators have increased in number, not decreased. Not one cut. this year's budget increase cut $2 million from the elementary and secondary school budgets - adding dollars to every other department. Those are bad decisions for kids, and the current board is letting the current administration make those decisions. The current school board is letting the administration to use "terror" to manage our school district on budget, new buildings, boundary changes, etc. Yes, state financing is not there, but neither is our existing school board.
For four years, students, parents and the community have asked for a community advisory committee on fine arts education - nothing from the School Board, because the Superintendent does not want us to come together to work together. When you make changes to what children learn and study, you start with the curriculum - you begin with the teachers.