Milwaukee Faced Art Cuts in 2004

When schools are forced to cut art and music programs, the results are grim - and expensive!

"Within two to three years, every school that cut arts showed a decrease in morale and attendance and an increase in vandalism and disruptions, and within three years most of them had to add extensive disciplinary staff to account for the problems that were created by not providing the full range of experiences that human beings need," Rayala said. These staff additions are costing the school more than keeping the arts programs and are hurting testing scores in the process, he said."

"According to a nationwide survey taken in 2003 by the Gallup organization, 95% of Americans believe that music is a key component in a child's well-rounded education. Eighty percent of respondents agreed that music makes the participants smarter; 78% believe that learning a musical instrument helps students perform better in other subjects areas; and 88% believe participation in music helps teach children discipline.

The evidence found by the College Entrance Examination Board showed students in an arts appreciation class scored 63 points higher on verbal and 44 points higher on math than students with no arts participation.

Researchers Frances Rauscher of the University of Wisconsin, and Gordon Shaw of the University of California-Irvine, found that music lessons have been shown to improve a child's performance in school. After eight months of lessons, children showed a 46% boost in their spatial IQ, which is crucial for higher brain function learning in complex mathematics, science and engineering.

Arts aren't only very important to a student's education, but they have a positive effect on the economy in Wisconsin. The arts are a job generator and have an economic impact of more than $289 million annually in Wisconsin while costing the state less than $5 million per biennium, according to the Wisconsin Assembly for Local Arts."

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