
Imagine living in a nation where there is no music education. In elementary school you never get the chance to fiddle around with a xylophone, piano, drum, or ukulele. You never get the chance to sing your favorite pop songs or traditional music in chorus. You never get to drive your parents crazy in elementary school with the piercing sound of practicing your recorder. At your high school pep rallies and football games there is no band to entertain the crowd. Universities have less and less schools of music and students no longer choose this as their major because they cannot find a job out right out of school. As you grow older, you see a dramatic scarcity of symphonic ensembles. The music in your favorite Hollywood blockbuster film is a song you've heard in ever other film because composition of classical scores has almost halted. There is no Dixieland jazz ringing through the streets of cities and no live blues band at your favorite bar or restaurant. What has been a beloved pastime for centuries becomes so rare it faces extinction more than the average human being knows to be true. This snowball fallacy lays the foundation of the problem at hand; a nation of public school systems that have either a music education program that is on the verge of vanishing or a music education program that is already absent. The argument of music education funding and continuance in public schools has a clear two stance debate, those in favor of music education and those who are opposed. Those in favor of music education use several facts and proven statistics to defend their stance. The opposition argument is not very direct, as being opposed to a program of such excellence can be seen as immoral. Their argument more closely says that music education is not necessarily a bad thing, it just is not as important as other programs or classes. When the funding is not there, music education programs are first to take the hit.  The problem with this mind set is that music education is now viewed as a chopping block program when there are financial difficulties in the school system. As a student myself who has participated in at least one music education course every year of my schooling since third grade, I can honestly say that I have been a first hand victim of what these budget cuts do to a music program. The cut and eventual loss of music education programs will lead to a loss of history and culture, decreased IQ and standardized test scores, as well as shrinking left and right brain simultaneous use among students and eventual adults in society. This argument may seem arbitrary to any person that is not a musician or music educator, but this is a topic that will either forever benefit or harm our future generations of children; our children that turn into adults that then mold the future of society.  In sum, music education programs need to continue to receive funding to remain a part of our public school's curriculum. Music education provides social, academic, and personal excellence that no other class or program can offer. Therefore, in order to continue to deliver a quality education system to American children and keep music alive for future generations we must advocate for music education at any chance we get. 

As previously mentioned, music education provides significantly stronger social and academic performance, as well as state of well being. Since most people have grown up with some sort of music education in their school curriculum, it is easy to assume that music is taught in all schools. However, there is a harsher truth that must be faced. In an article published in the Huffington Post in 2015, Katherine Damkohler, Executive Director of Education Through Music, brings a shocking fact to the table. She states, "The NYC Department of Education just released the 2013-14 Arts in Schools Report. Fifty-nine percent of New York City schools do not have a full-time certified music teacher, and only 36 percent of 6th-8th graders reported participating in music, according to the report." (Damkohler). In 2013 Marci Major conducted a study called "How They Decide: A Case Study Examining the Decision-Making Process for Keeping or Cutting Music in a K -- 12 Public School District." Major says that "[i]n an age of increased accountability and educational standardization accompanied by tighter budgets and fewer funds, core subjects, such as math and reading, receive more funding and instructional time in public schools, while noncore subjects, like music, potentially face reductions or elimination in budgets, programs, and staffing" (Major). So if music education has so many positive effects on a child's development, why would it face as many draw backs as it does? Valeriya Metla with Law Street Media breaks down the the current state of our arts education system in American schools and credits the lack of these programs to two different problems; the lack of funding due to budget cuts and the current emphasis on common core subjects and standardized testing (Metla). With side effects of our most recent recession, the budget for public schools has decreased dramatically, with more than 95 percent of students in the United States attending schools that have faced these budget draw backs (Metla). Between a shrunken budget, the No Child Left Behind Act, and Common Core State Standards, it is easy for music education to get kicked to the curb. Without the maintenance of these music education programs, due to the focus on common core, future generations are starting to lose education of music in the most crucial learning period of their life. Major, when presenting the harsh reality of music education programs, notes that " ... journalists portrayed the arts as a dying subject that soon would disappear from public school criteria altogether" (Major). This emphasis on standardized testing pushes classes, such as music education, that are performance based to the side and they are then viewed as something additional or as a luxury (Metla). This mere thought process is the rooting problem with the lack of music education. 

In a society where we strive to constantly solve the problem of how to increase academic performance, we are glancing over the panacea that is right in front of. In a total group profile report by the College Board, it was found that students who participated in any form of music education class in their lifetime " ... scored an average of thirty-one points above average in reading, twenty-three points above average in math, and thirty-one points above average in writing" on the 2012 SAT (NAfME). It was also found in 2006 that schools with music education programs have a graduation rate of 90.2 percent while schools without music education programs have a graduation rate of 72.9 (NAfME). Every year that I was in high school, I was always amazed at the fact that every valedictorian, salutatorian, and most of the top 10 percent of the class were always students with some form of history with participation in music education. A huge contributor to every effect music education has on someone's development is the founding that "[m]usic training in childhood 'fundamentally alters the nervous system such that neural changes persist in adulthood after auditory training has ceased'" (NAfME). Music is the only activity that simultaneously uses the left side of the brain and right side of the brain. While reading notes on a page, recalling lyrics, how to play or sing a pitch you see on the page, tapping your toe, and constantly listening to those around you to match pitch, your brain receives the equivalent of what could be considered a full body workout (Jun). Aside from the superior academic achievement of students with music education experience, there is also a drastic impact on their emotional state, motivation, and health. In 2008 it was found that "70 percent of people involved in music say that it was at least somewhat influential in contributing to their current level of personal fulfillment", which I can vouch to be true, as I am still currently a practicing musician and part of multiple music education classes (NAfME). Learning how to read music is the equivalent of learning a foreign language and learning how to play an instrument takes skill, so when you put the two together and are constantly rewarded after hard work and practice, it is very self fulfilling. Participating in music programs have not only given me great leadership experience, but taught me the fundamentals of team work, both two great tools I use to this day in classes outside of music curriculum and in real world situations. Music has always been an important part of culture throughout the world due to its ability to be enjoyed by virtually anyone, anywhere in the world. Music actually stimulates the amygdala and the brain stem, which regulates emotions, breathing, heart rate, and digestion (Jun). According to Passion Jun M.D., "[a] recent study demonstrates that drumming can induce brain activities in various areas of brain and can be beneficial for Attention Deficit Disorder, alleviating anxiety, and stress relief. It also creates a sense of bonding and connectedness from person to person in a community. This might explain why music has been widely used in ceremonial rites in most societies throughout history" (Jun). This sort of physical and mental energy outlet can help students that suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder. Music education has an impact on every potion of society, even in the career field. Children that have taken any form of music education before the age of seven scored on average seven and a half IQ points higher than the average IQ score for other people their age. It was found in another study Anita Collins researched that there is a correlation between IQ points higher than average and higher career earnings later on in life. For each IQ point increase above average, there is about a seven hundred dollars per year earning over others with an average IQ score. If you take this figure and apply it to a person that has received music education that scores about seven points higher on an IQ test, this puts a musically trained mind at about a five thousand dollars per year increase in salary. Imagine what this turns into after ten years (Collins). "Graduates from music programs report that creativity, teamwork, communication, and critical thinking are skills necessary in their work, regardless of whether they are working in music or other fields" which shows us that emphasis on music education will only benefit those that choose it as a career path (NAMM). This also means anyone with a background in music education, regardless or major and career, are able to have a chance at the social and financial benefits later in life.

Although music education can easily be defended by these facts and studies, musicians loath defending music education and accrediting music to its long term academic benefits (Catterall). "Music teachers are typically about music first," explains James Catterall, "[m]any were musicians as students or as young professionals, and they stand for musical learning in the context of their sense of what children need in order to grow up in this world." As a nation we are too materially concerned about how music education will benefit test scores or common core courses. Catterall explains this best by stating that "[t]he biggest loss may simply be the chance to participate in a guided way with music  --  to learn how music is made, to try making music, to learn about the infinite ways that music comes to us and to learn about music's connections to events and eras of our history." Once music is lost in a public school setting, it turns into something that is only an option for those children of parents with a high socio-economic status. Music is then only obtained in a private market by those can afford the expense of private music lessons. Recognizing everything music education has to offer across the board is the first step of solving the problem of vanishing music education programs.

The two things holding back music education programs' flourish are the lack of funding and lack of knowledge about the positive effects it has. Now that the positive effects have been brought to surface, the question remains: how could you solve the problem of declining music education? For most people the immediate and direct power to fix the problem is non existent, but the good news is that there are several things that can be done to help. Shannon Kelly, the National Association for Music Education Director of Advocacy and Policy, provides some options in her Collegiate Connections article, such as attending a school board meeting in your area to find out how your local schools are funded. You could also attend your state Music Educators Association and learn about what they are currently doing in your state to advocate for music education. There is also a Collegiate Advocacy Summit that will occur from June 22-24, 2016 where you can " ... receive advocacy and leadership training and to meet with members of Congress and their staff to advocate for music education" at a national level (Kelly). In response to the lack of arts emphasis in the Common Core Standards, art educators and advocates fought for the new National Core Arts Standards. They were released to the public in 2014, assessed in 2015, and will continue to be assed in 2016 to see if there is actually evidence of high student achievement. The President of the National Association for Music Education, Scott C. Schuler, warns us that curtailing music education is a stepping stone to a curriculum where all that matters is the test scores versus what the child fully develops into as a person, not just academically (Schuler). In his article he uses a quote from Sir John Lubbock, who said, "[r]eading and writing, arithmetic and grammar do not constitute education any more than a knife, fork and spoon constitute a dinner" (Schuler).

So let's say there is one activity and course that improves cognitive function, help our memory systems, help learn language, help moderate emotional states, help solve complex problems, and help our brains to be healthier into later life. Would it not make sense to make sure this opportunity could be available to all children that will one day be a part of society? Would you not want to have this experience for yourself or for your own children? These are all reasons that musical activities have been around since the start of the world's history and culture. Music education is a panacea not only in the public school system, but to the lives of America's future society. Even aside from the learning aspect, music is an art form that cannot be lost in time due to limited funding. It is a universal language that must be continued to provide substance to public schools and depth to quality of life.

