Ways to Help Struggling Public School Budgets

[dwerden]

I was lucky enough to grow up in Davenport, Iowa. During the years I was in high school, every student in the band program got a weekly music lesson in school from either a woodwind, brass, or percussion specialist. I received good lessons and entered college with a good foundation in musicianship and fundamentals of technique. This was especially fortunate for me, because my family could not afford private lessons. That school program actually continued until a few years ago, when the budget battles finally took it out.

Public school systems all over the country have been struggling for years with really, really tough budget situations. Even in the well-off suburb where I now live, the school music programs have suffered cuts that put in crimp in the opportunities (or eliminated them). It was encouraging to read the following article about the "Beatles Project" helping public schools with some much-needed money:

http://www.startribune.com/local/north/117495493.html

My question for the forum is: can you name other programs like this? I'm sure there are other private programs that could help the school music outlook. Perhaps it would be good to discuss them here so we could all support the organizations providing them. And maybe some of the more adventurous readers could even encourage other such programs to be formed.

[Carroll]

David,

One of my enterprising band parents (now an alumni parent) set up a foundation that pays for after school lessons in my late father's name. He secures grants and donations to fund the program. We hire university students to teach my high school kids and the high schoolers, in turn, teach my middle school kids. While not every student takes advantage of the opportunity, it is invaluable for those who do. The high school kids learn a tremendous amount when they teach the younger ones, as well.

[Chadtuba]

. . . but 99% of the energy needs to come FROM THE STUDENTS (the type of "Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland" enthusiasm, energy, and concentrated effort that REALLY CAN exist)...and I just don't see very much of that these days.

I have a small but fairly dedicated of students in my 7-8 and 9-12 band (perform combined, classes apart) and we have not had any funding issues. I've got decent equipment, have been allowed to purchase new (used) equipment that was missing and needed/wanted, and have had great support from most of the parents and all of my peers & administration. However, Bloke hit the nail on the head with the above statement. The "great" things we have done were because the students deemed them important and they put forth the extra effort, but to get them to actually pratice to better themselves as musicians, not usually. The general attitude from the average student seems to be "what can you do for me, what can I get out of it, and what is the minimal effort that I am going to have to put forth?" It is very frustrating seeing that some of these students have talent (not just in music but in all areas) but will probably never amount to much of anything because they refuse to put forth any effort. There are a number of students in our little school that would rather accept a zero on an assigmnent than spend 5 minutes on their homework.