GainesvilleMoms.com

This seems like a real tragedy. Math, science and English are essential, but so is art and music. Students should be introduced to those humanities, which are being cut dramatically. What do you think?

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20080626/NEWS/806260..._in_county_s_schools

I read this yesterday...it's so upsetting! One of the reasons we started homeschooling was because of a lack of art and music and now there will be even less. We used an online public school last year and were pretty happy....only to find out that the Governor signed a bill at the beginning of June that makes it so individual school districts (the ones who are already overworked and underpaid) have to set up their own virtual schools! I am so beyond frustrated by all of this...FL is already ranked 49th in Education!

My friend works at Eastside and she is really upset about this. They have released many teachers and expect the current ones to give up their planning period to p/u the slack. I think Florida will realize what a bad idea it is to burn out teachers and cut out art and music when we see a dramatic drop in FCAT scores and grades. Studies have proven that daily creative disciplines (like art and music) are directly linked to higher test scores in school. How sad...

FYI all moms:
There is a local group that is meeting tonight (yes, Thursday, June 26) on the issue of state cuts in music and art education.

Here's the info, if you care to join:

Thursday, June 26, 6 pm
Glen Springs Elem School Cafeteria
2826 NW 31 Avenue
Gainesville, FL 32605

More than 100 people signed in at Kanapaha Middle School last Thurs evening, wanting to save art and music education in our public schools. Based on this reponse, a group is organizing with two main goals in mind:

1. Create a trust fund to save our music and art programs in Alachua County Schools;

2. Change the long-term health of educational funding in Florida, specifically in Alachua County.

Please join us at Glen Springs this Thursday evening as we move forward in a positive way. More info is forthcoming on committees that are already taking shape.

i have a friend that is/was the music teacher at a local elementary school. i was please today to read that the school board and prinicpals are doing their best to keep these teachers employed. our first thought was that she was going to be unemployed. i haven't talked with her yet today to find out her status.

i am a strong believer in art and music. my daughter is very musical and i believe the art teacher is one of the ones making a real difference in my son's attitude towards school in general. but with that said, it is what it is and many counties have cut them out all together. i'm please to know that in light of budget cuts, our school board realizes the importance of the arts.

i hope that the upcoming meetings will result in real recommendations that the board can actually use rather than a bunch of angry parents demanding the school board just fix it. if they could, they would. we need fresh ideas on how to pay for these programs. too many times, we hold meetings and write letters but do not offer any solutions. we make sure everyone knows we are mad, but we don't become part of the solution.

maybe there are parents out there with talents in these areas that can volunteer and fill the role of the teachers let go...maybe they can use grad students from UF's band or art department to continue working with our elementary school students.

what happened to that old fashion good ole education where everything was a must to pass. I remember music and art being the highlight other than PE and maybe lunch.

its also with my understanding that music is essential because it does help people with math...so why take out one of the tools that will help with academic? I think someone is missing the boat here!

sad...so sad.

We live in Levy county...west of Gainesville. My daughters school cut all music and art except band. She was in chorus but now it is no longer offered. I think it is horrible for the kids that have no hope of getting their desire to learn and appreciate music fulfilled anywhere but in school. Thankfully we have great music and drama programs at our church and both of my teenage girls are involved in activities there. Music and art is so important to all kids of all ages.

This is a horrible thing to happen in schools! So many of my students look forward to art and/or music each week. Some of the kids who struggle in everything else really thrive in those subjects. I'm sad that it has come to this. Mary, there is discussion of cutting out one or two days of our planning at my school also. I think we're all just waiting to see how this plays out when the school year starts.