Arts Educatiom

In recent years arts education has faced many issues as the school curriculum in the United States has shifted heavily towards the common core subjects of reading and math. Teachers and even business leaders are now recognizing the value of the arts to students like never before. According to Janet Reed, a principal at Mount Rainier Elementary School, states that “All the research shows the arts advance academic excellence.” A problem, however, is that providing arts education isn’t easy for schools to do, she says “It all comes down to money.” For many schools it is a money struggle to maintain art and music classes but there are too many schools dropping both out completely. It is imperative that schools understand the importance and the impact that arts education can have on students. It is essential for schools to incorporate arts education into their curriculum because it plays a central role in cognitive, motor, language, and social emotional development.
The two main reasons for the decline of the arts programs are that people consider them unnecessary and that schools have to make budget cuts.   Numerous individuals claim that core subjects, such as math and science, should have the most emphasis put on them in order to improve test scores.   These people believe “time that is spent in art class can be better spent on other things” and that “time would be better used in a math or science class.”   By providing core subjects with a stronger focus though, the arts programs will not be available to students.   School budgets also pose a problem for arts programs.   This problem is mainly found in low income schools and when the budget dips, arts programs are the first to go.   When schools are cutting out arts programs for the students they are also cutting out inspiration and a form of expression.   Therefore, students are less likely to attend. This is shown through a study titled “The Role of the Fine and Performing Arts in High School Dropout Prevention,” by...