The Arts
The arts, music, history, social studies...pretty much everything that made grade school bearable is steadily being removed from the classrooms. I can't bear the idea of sitting through grammar and math and science with no culture or creativity thrown in there. Without the adventure of history and the beauty of music or the therapy of art or the richness of cultures from distant lands and ancient times, how can anyone think that drop out rates will drop? Instead they will skyrocket!
I was always a student who would get by in my math classes but when I went to art I felt like Picasso and when I went to music I was Bach. These classes brought the enthusiasm that I left at home running back to me and it resonated with me in classes that I would otherwise not even stay awake through. There were days that I wouldn't fake sick because we were talking about the civil war in history..but there were days that I pretended to be on my death bed because the long division lesson was going to begin that day.
If we want to make schools any more like prison, then doing away with the arts is a wise decision. But if we want to see test scores and attendance rise then I say we flood the schools with the things that make life worth living.
- jackie styons's blog
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Removing Options
I have to agree with your despair. I remember when I was in school, music was one of the only things that I held onto with a purpose. I think that this issue will also create some questions in colleges and universities. As the importance of what classes are taken shifts to science, math and vocations, the arts are being gently bumped out of the schools' curriculums. I have to agree that students like myself would have dropped out. Taking away the options of educational careers for students could and probably will severely increase the drop-out rate. I can only hope that the government realizes that the arts programs are just as important as the programs that will "strengthen our workforce."
to build a proper work force
Why would the US government take out the important classes that build depth and character within everyday students? The same reason that high stakes testing is viewed as the key evaluation tool in schools. Stretch the student's ability to cope with stress without any positive stimulus and see how long they can last. I hope that I'm just being neurotic and that the government wouldn't dream of keeping the populace dumb down so they will openly submit, but with taking out fine arts and history from classrooms it seems that could be the only aim.