Dear Future President,

Imagine a world without art or music, a world without self expression; a world without some of the best works of art like Beethoven, Bach, or Tchaikovsky. Students everyday are exposed to math, science, and history and yet students struggle to either connect emotionally or reach their full potential in highly enforced classes. Students don’t fit in a perfect box consisting of just academics nor would we want them to.Quality arts and music programs have proven to provide students with many emotional and educational benefits. Benefits that include greater self confidence, an increased IQ, improved test scores and even better developed spatial-temporal skills. Because of these above mentioned benefits to student development, school districts should not be reducing or eliminating the art and music programs. In fact we should be doing the exact opposite.

To begin, one of the major academic advantages that art programs provide is higher IQ and test scores. Every school's reputation and funding is based on the standardized test score they receive from their students each year. So, by increasing the arts funding you could ultimately be increasing your student’s test score in the process. In the article “The Benefits of Music Education” written by Laura Lewis Brown she cites a variety of research that demonstrates how some form of music education helps students excel in core academic areas. She mentions a study done in 2007 by Christopher Johnson that explains how kids with musical background are found to do better on standardized test than those who aren’t. Johnson’s findings reveal “That students with superior music education programs scored around 22 percent higher in english and 20 percent higher in math on standardized tests compared to schools with either low quality or no school music programs.” (Brown, Laura L. "Benefits of Music Education." PBS Parents. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.) This study reveals the positive impact arts programs have on a student's academic success outside the music room. Overall school districts would ultimately gain more funding by funding the music and arts programs. These results directly support the value of providing students with funded access to the arts and music education.

Another way Arts and Music programs benefit students is their ability to increase a student's self-esteem. Students every day are placed in academic classes that may not fit how they learn or what they are interested in. Students who aren't strong in core subjects can develop low self esteem or a low confidence level which has been know to lead to depression and other mental imbalances. Self esteem and confidence plays a major role in young students lives. The arts have been recognized to give students the confidence and self esteem that propels them through everyday life. In 2004 a study completed by Costa-Giomi experimented with the concept that students who are musically educated would have significantly higher self esteem. During the experiment she divided a group of students into two different groups. Those who participated in piano lessons once every week for three years and those with no music instruction, each starting with relatively the same self esteem levels. At the end of Costa-Giomi research, she had concluded that, “Children who completed three years of piano instruction had a significant increase in self-esteem and confidence while the children who did not participate in piano instruction or dropped out of piano instruction either had the same level or an even lower level of self esteem.” (Costa-Giomi, E. (2004). Effects of three years of piano instruction on children’s academic achievement, school performance and self-esteem. Psychology of Music, 32(2), 139-152.). This again supports the notion that a positive experience in the arts transfers to lifelong success; self confident children develop into self confident adults that are better able to navigate new challenges and risks in different areas of their lives. Arts programs will propel students forward with everything that comes their way later on. This being possible with the strong self confidence and esteem brought by these programs.

Lastly, music increases the development of a student’s spatial-temporal skills. Spatial skills is the ability to solve multi-step problems. Research has found a link between music and spatial intelligence, it contributes to the idea that music can help students visualize different elements that go together, like when solving different math equations. In the article, “The Benefits of Music Education” by Laura Lewis Brown, she touches on different studies done that have found links between music and these different skills. In one of the studies done by Pruett he explains, “We have evidence that music instruction dos reliably improve spatial-temporal skills in children overtime. These skills come into play in solving the multi-step problems one would encounter in architecture, engineering, math, art, and especially working with computers” (Brown, Laura L. "Benefits of Music Education." PBS Parents. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.) Arts and music provide benefits that even coincide with career choices later on in people's lives. These programs will enhance a student’s learning and the ability to problem solve which will not only help in academics but will help in everyday life.

Although arts programs have been shown to be beneficial, it is also recognized that school districts just don’t have the money to put towards the programs. For example, I have played violin in my high school's orchestra program for 7 years now. I have seen a lot of the budget cuts that have restricted us and our teacher’s ability to provide quality school instruments and new music. Our school orchestra program doesn’t even have a classroom for everyday use. Schools districts put money towards activities and programs that bring money into the schools, things like football and basketball. Yet what really brings in money is increased test scores and a student’s ability to learn. Therefore, spending money for the arts and music in turn, brings in more money for schools.

In conclusion, the arts and music programs are too important to student development in schools to not be fully funded. Students will into adults who have the ability to deal with difficult everyday situations and the confidence to take them on. If the arts and music programs were to disappear from school curriculum it would not only reverse the effects mentioned above, but would also block students ability to express themselves and their exposure to a completely different culture. The arts and music programs have proved their worth and yet, we still see how the funding and these programs are the first to go. That is why I am urging you, future president, to increase money for arts programs all over the country; it will benefit the country for many years to come.

Thank you for your time, and good luck in office.

Rachel E