I think it's a shame that schools drop music programs. I could go on a rant about what they do promote instead, but that's a different thread.
Schools have a specific goal not only to educate children, but also to predict future opportunities and prepare students with the skills they'll need to meet their generation's specific employment needs.
When you look at the worldwide glut of people trying to make money through music, it isn't hard to understand why the schools don't want to spend limited resources training even more people to do that. That kind of training (private music lessons, online instruction, printed music curricula, video, etc) is abundantly available in the private sector already. In fact, selling music instruction is probably one of the few ways people are actually turning a buck through music.
Then consider the fact that technology companies are forced to sponsor engineers from other countries because so few American kids go into engineering and the sciences. I wouldn't want to be a teacher now... too many special interest groups pushing their agendas. But one thing is sure: they have to make choices on how to spend the resources at their disposal, and the evidence doesn't indicate that we need more musicians.
My two cents. I understand that's a point of view not shared by all.
I see your point, but respectfully disagree.
Take football. Does this give the students more employment opportunities than music? How many students end making their living playing football?
Plus football damages the children. I read summaries from the
American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine convention, and the general consensus is this:
Don't let your child play tackle football unless you don't like him.Why? The helmet protects the skull but not the brain from bouncing around in the skull. The vast majority of football players suffer from concussions, some serious enough to impair the child for life, and most damaging enough to cause the early onset of dementia. Is this the function of the school? Damaging kids? No, but it's profitable.
Other sports are as useless for employment as football, but not as damaging. How many are going to be golf pros, volleyball pros, track & field pros, pro wrestlers, pro baseball players, etc.
And literature - what does learning Shakespeare do for employment possibilities? It does enrich some lives though.
Drama? How many are going to make their living on stage or the screen?
There are plenty of other examples.
Not everything in schools today are for making a living. And should they be? Are we simply training workers? Wage slaves? Or are we also supposed to also be enriching the lives of humans in school?
Plus it's been proven that learning music improves math aptitude, especially if taught early enough. And in the early days when computer companies couldn't find enough programmers, they hired musicians because learning to read music makes learning computer programming much easier.
I think they should drop sports and give music education instead.
I'm sure many will disagree.
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