It's hard to imagine anyone anywhere who doesn't think, all things being equal, that we should spend substantially more money educating students in music and the arts.
Not only does arts education open up a world of culture, creativity, beauty and imagination, but repeated studies have shown, more prosaically, that it leads to improvements in students' critical thinking, to more empathy and less intolerance, and to stronger memory and attention. It's not an add-on for dilettantes. In school, it leads to reductions in disciplinary infractions, improved attendance and higher college aspirations, among other things.
Yet only 22% of California public schools — barely one in five — have a full-time arts or music teacher (compared with 72% in New York City), advocates say.
