Talk to Sing the Praises of Music Education
Santa Barbara school board members axed many music programs this year due to budget constraints, following a nationwide trend of focusing on academics while neglecting the arts. Michael Shasberger, Westmont’s Adams professor of music and worship, will speak on “Reading, Writing and Music: Why Music Belongs at the Center of the Curriculum,” Thursday, Nov. 8, at 5:30 p.m. at the University Club, 1332 Santa Barbara St.
“It seems like every year administrators threaten to cut back music, art and theater programs in the public schools, citing budget woes and the requirements of mandates such as No Child Left Behind,” Shasberger says. “But Westmont believes the arts should be an essential part of the curriculum for all students of all ages. The liberal arts tradition recognizes the importance of many kinds of intelligences and the critical role that each plays in the development of the whole person.”
Shasberger will discuss the many benefits of music education and invites some gifted youngsters to demonstrate how music has enriched their lives.
Extensive research indicates that music instruction supplies intellectual, emotional and physical components critical to children’s development.
The talk is part of the ongoing lecture series Westmont Downtown: Conversations about Things that Matter, sponsored by the Westmont Foundation, which seeks to cultivate healthy ties between the community and Westmont.
Not all the news is bad. California’s final budget allocates $105 million for arts education, the largest known state-funded expenditure for arts education in U.S. public schools. The California Alliance for Arts Education calls for more resources noting that the new funding simply stops a 30-year skid in arts education spending for California’s schools. According to the alliance, student enrollment in music education declined by 47 percent between 1999 and 2004.
In Santa Barbara, school officials discovered a $2.3 million administrative miscalculation and are beginning to restore music and other electives that were cut last spring.
The Westmont Foundation created Westmont Downtown several years ago to engage the community in meaningful, substantive and lively conversation.
The free lecture is open to the public and reservations are not necessary. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, contact the Westmont public affairs office at (805)565-6051 or e-mail pubaffairs@westmont.edu