Area Educator Urges School Boards To Preserve Music Programs
The cash-strapped Bristol Township (Pa.) school board is mulling over the end of music classes, and it's not the only district in a bind.
But critics say this solution is shortsighted.
If you're looking for bang for the budgetary buck, music is a bargain, says John Villella, associate dean of the the West Chester University College of Visual and Performing Arts. It combines the science of acoustics with the math of beats. It's a universal language that spans cultures and centuries.
But, he laments, all that may not be immediately evident to decision-makers.
"It think it's because, in most instances, they think that it's the band or choir concert in the spring of the year, and that's the only thing that happens. But it's not the educational piece of what music is all about," Villella (right) says.
And he says that music is crucial for cognitive development. Unfortunately, he admits, balancing budgets can require hard -- even discordant -- choices.
Reported by John Ostapkovich, KYW Newsradio 1060
