5/3/05 -- During the NSBA Annual Conference, Kevin Cronin, the lead singer for REO Speedwagon, presented the first annual VH1 Save the Music Foundation Award for Distinguished Support of Music Education to the Milwaukee school board.
Due to the vision of its school board, superintendent, and administrators, “Milwaukee Public Schools has become a model for music education,” says Laurie Schopp, the foundation’s director of programs and policy.
The Milwaukee school board’s dedication to providing a certified, qualified music teacher for every school, funding for repairs, after-school music programs, textbooks, and supplies, reflects its commitment to ensuring that all students receive the benefits of music education, Schopp says.
At a news conference announcing the award, NSBA’s new president, Joan E. Schmidt, said it’s a mistake for districts to cut music programs when forced to trim their budgets. “Music is an absolutely essential part of the core curriculum,” she says.
Since 1997, VH1’s Save the Music Foundation has provided $30 million worth of new musical instruments to public school students, many of them from urban schools that have trouble affording the capital expense. In response, these school systems have promised to make a sustained commitment to music education.
One of those districts, Milwaukee, has received more than $1.3 million for students in 54 of its schools. Next year, the program will be expanded to all city schools.
Peter Blewett, president of the Milwaukee school board, says that when he was in high school and being intimidated by young toughs, it was music -- and his friends in the band -- that kept him in school.
He says he’s seen one of his nephews succeed in school because of music, and another drop out without it. “What if he had had the opportunity that I did as a student? Maybe he would have stayed in school.”
Blewett says, “It’s up to school boards across the country to come together, work together, and advocate for arts education.”