It has come to our attention that there will be a key Board meeting on Monday, May 19th, during which the Elementary Day Schedule, including Strings instruction, will be discussed.
Given how infrequently the agenda of these meetings are published in a timely manner, the fact that we even know about this with some advance notice is a step in the right direction. And, apparently, we have new Board member Judy Lindenberger to thank.
Ms. Lindenberger was recently contacted by a parent who cares deeply about Strings instruction. Following an announcement by School District Business Administrator Robert Colavita that around $80K in new savings -- from reduced capital expenditures -- has been "found," this parent urged Ms. Lindenberger to leverage some of these savings for Strings instruction.
In turn, Ms. Lindenberger passed this request onto Dr. Ferguson and promised to follow up. Well, it looks like she did: This same parent recently received a note from Dr. Ferguson informing her of the key meeting on May 19th.
Is this a sign of new things to come? Is Judy Lindenberger showing the kind of community responsiveness that has been missing from the entrenched majority on this School Board for years? It may be too soon to tell, but it's certainly encouraging. To be sure, Judy Lindenberger voiced her support for Strings instruction during the Candidates' Forum just prior to the recent election.
The fact that Dr. Ferguson actually emailed this parent about the meeting on May 19th underscores the fact that -- when pushed by a reasonable and responsible Board -- even this Administration can do the right thing. When the dog wags the tail, all things are possible.
Thank you, Judy. And thank you concerned parent -- for keeping your eye on the ball about this important issue.
Why Strings Instruction is Important
Numerous studies (cited during the School Board Candidates' Forum just prior to the election) show that Strings instruction can be of immense benefit to young children in their brain development. It has come to our attention that some current School Board members chose to cut Strings instruction for 2nd and 3rd graders (vs. Band instruction, which can be leveraged for football games and such) because the studies showing the value of Strings instruction presuppose consistent (i.e. many times a week vs. just once a week) instruction. In other words, they believed the studies were not relevant because the District's historical curriculum only provided Strings instruction once a week.
Frankly, while delivering Strings instruction several days a week may indeed be preferable to providing it only once a week, it is clear that some Strings instruction is better for brain development than NO Strings instruction. This is like saying: Since, in many parts of the world, kids only have one meal a day, and since one meal a day is not as good as three meals a day in delivering nutrition to children, it makes sense to get rid of that one meal a day. No, it doesn't. One meal a day is actually better than NO meals a day.
As a nation, we face several significant challenges as we prepare our children for the world of tomorrow...not the least of which is that we will never be able to compete with the likes of India and China in manufacturing (at least until they grow their middle classes and labor costs become comparable to those in the West). Let's face it: If you want to manufacture widgets (e.g. computers or drugs or whatever), at least for the foreseeable future, it will be cheaper to make them abroad where labor costs are a fraction of those we find in this country and Western Europe. So, until automation solutions (e.g. robotics) provide us with the same competitive advantages in manufacturing that cheap labor delivers to our 2nd and 3rd world neighbors, we need to prepare our children for a competitive landscape that does not focus on widget production.
Our nation's competitive advantage, then, resides on a different path. We need to prepare our children to think creatively, to dream outside of the box, if we are to remain competitive. It is not an accident that this nation still reigns supreme in such areas as software and drug design & development. In other words, if we are to remain competitive, we should not be preparing our children for a life of widget manufacturing; we should be preparing them for a life focused on developing the "software" that goes onto those widgets.
Strings instruction is unique in that it lies at the interstice of mathematics and art. It helps children think analytically (that's the math/science part of music), and inspires them to emote creatively (that's the creative side of music). As such, Strings instruction is, in our view, a key element in the kind of curriculum that will protect our nation's competitive advantage far into the future.
We at CUSP urge all parents with elementary-age children to attend the School Board meeting on Monday, May 19th.
No matter what you care about -- be it Strings or Science instruction; be it class size or the time made available for lunch and/or recess -- this is the moment to get involved.
An involved citizenry is the only way we will ever get the momentum required to reinstate Hazardous busing.
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