Cutting Elementary Strings Will Cost MMSD Millions - Not Save Money

I agree whole heartedly with Mr. Pay's comments to Johnny Winston Jr., that the MMSD School Board is not taking a long-term financial or educational look at elementary strings that shows increased numbers of middle and high school children taking orchestra and band will save money for the district while providing immeasurable personal and educational benefits to children.

However, there are two other reasons why this is a bad decision that come to mind - one is standards and the other is, in my mind, an even bigger economic impact than benefits from larger class sizes.

The long-term educational and financial fallout from cutting elementary strings will cost far more than the annual $500,000 cost of the program. I predict a decision to cut elementary strings will cost the district millions in the long-term.

I'm from NYC and I've seen the deterioration first hand of a public school system. If the District lowers its quality of course offerings, families who can will choose to put their children in other school districts when they move to this area. These children often are lower overhead (require less extra services). Madison will be left with higher overhead children and have even less money for their education - less money per child for their education. This cost will by far be a much bigger impact for our children and for our City, and my peeve is that because the School Board is not looking long-term, we are going down some very rocky roads that we do not have to at the present.

We have revenue cap issues, but that does not absolve our school board of looking and planning long term. Our Board can't afford not to do this type of planning and factoring these issues into their decisions. Not doing so will directly affect our neediest children the most.

Course Cost-Effectiveness
The entire K-12 music education program costs approximately $200 per participant - including elementary strings, which costs about $250 per child. We spend $600 per child on administrative costs. We spend over $300 per child on extracurricular sports.

Only 9.6 FTEs teach nearly 2,000 elementary school children in 30 elementary schools how to play strings - that's remarkable. In the Isthmus this week, the principal cellist with the Madison Symphony Orchestra commented that he is amazed at how much children are learning and impressed with the quality of their instruction from teachers who travel to several schools to teach.

Standards
The view on elementary strings is very short-sighted. This is a high value, high demand course that reaches ALL children, regardless of ability.

If the Board cuts elementary strings, they will not be meeting their standards for music education. They will be depriving more than 600-1000 low and moderate income children of the opportunity to have the well-documented personal and educational benefits from this course. Lowering of academic standards for any course, but especially one that is high demand and shown to have significant personal and academic benefits for children is unacceptable.

Macro-Financial Impact
Not only is elementary strings cost-effective, a high value to and for students, meets the district's board approved standards, this course is much-valued in this community and makes the school district attractive to parents who are moving into the area. That parent decision, about where to enroll your child, is worth thousands of dollars to Madison. Every time a parent chooses to put their child in another district, the MMSD loses those dollars that could be put toward educating all our children.

The district has felt the impact of the growing suburban communities since the mid-1990s. Since that time thousands of children were enrolled in districts surrounding Madison, costing MMSD millions of dollars per year.

Cutting elementary strings and other highly valued, high demand courses will continue to erode the academic quality of the district and cost millions.

There will be fallout in many ways from such decisions, but the impact on our low income and minority student population will be worse. In the case of strings, not only will low income/minority children not have the personal and economic benefits, their quality of education will suffer.

Our School Board can make better decisions if they would look long-term before deciding - elementary strings is a case in point of the potential educational and financial costs of short-sighted decisionmaking.

Posted by at May 4, 2005 9:21 AM
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