The Importance Of Art Programs In Public Schools

The recent trend of cutting funding to art programs in public schools who are financially strained has sparked and interest in the impact of art programs on the wellbeing of students. This has led to a debate centered around whether or not fine arts education are beneficial enough to the students and staff to continue fighting for funding. Opposers argue that the money could be used in academics and that the arts provide no real life skills that are applicable after graduation. With more and more schools today retracting their arts programs because of the uproar of these academic warriors, we are forced to examine the academic impact as well as the impact on the students quality of living resulting from the presence of these programs. One of the most prominent reasonings for cutting art programs are the recent trends of lower test scores. In an article about declining test scores written by the Washington Post, it is reported that on a 500 point scale students “show two-point losses in eighth-grade math and reading and a one-point drop in fourth-grade math.” Because of these declining scores, parents and school leaders think that time in rehearsals and in arts classes could be spent learning the …show more content…
Some students are simply more art inclined and excel greatly in their art centered classes while struggling in their core classes and working extremely hard on a skill that they do not understand and will not need when they decide to take the art career route. Arts programs in schools have actually been showing statistically in numerous studies to improve attendance, GPAs, and overall health in students that participate regularly. This means that the art programs that school officials are trying so adamantly to cut out of the budget may actually improve students performances in the core classes they are so worried