Magazine

The Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), like many urban school districts, are in trouble. Chronically underfunded, with a graduation rate of only 68 percent during the 2005–2006 school year and lagging on state achievement tests, MPS has been identified on the federal level as a “school district in need of improvement” after missing adequate yearly progress goals for three years in a row. School district administrators, parents, policymakers and the public have been trying to reverse these trends, with mixed success.

Unfortunately, arts funding has often been a casualty in the effort to improve schools on a decreasing budget. MPS’ 2008–2009 budget adds $2.26 million for physical education, art and music classes across 212 schools, but only after years of cuts. (Even one of MPS’ magnet schools, Elm Creative Arts School, had to lay off three of seven arts teachers a few years ago.) According to a 2003 Gallup poll, 95 percent of Americans believe that “music is a key component in a child’s well-rounded education.” A 2007 study also showed that music education supports other key academic areas, leading students to score at least 20 percent higher on English and math standardized tests. Despite public support for public arts education and evidence of its benefits, however, funding is still sorely lacking, and many students in ailing public school systems go without an arts education altogether.