How sad...

A little boy here in Memphis (a cousin of a musician friend of mine) told me he was into sports, not music. I was a little surprised because his cousin is a first-rate drummer. I asked him why. He explained to me that they don't have music at his school. Now I was really surprised, because for many years all elementary schools in Memphis not only had music, but the superb Orff music curriculum at that. "You don't have Orff music at your school?" I asked him. "No, sir. It's a charter school," he replied,as if that explained everything. "But we have sports."

So I learned the awful truth on Saturday that many charter schools are being used here in Memphis to undermine our city's legacy in music and the arts. Parents, please don't assume that charters offer a better education for your kids. Do some research first, and if a particular school doesn't offer art or music, please don't put your kids there. I don't believe this is isolated, and I don't believe it is accidental either. Studies show that education in the arts and music can improve a child's performance in other subjects as well, due to the analytical thinking that the arts encourage, but the charters are interested in getting the best test scores possible in the shortest amount of time so as to protect the flow of taxpayers' dollars into their schools.

- A parent in Memphis, TN

How sad that children in some charter schools have no music.