Vice President Al Gore '69 and Texas Gov. George W. Bush outline a number of educational reforms they plan to implement if elected to the presidency: increasing funding for technology in the classroom, shutting down schools that fail to meet standards and developing character education programs. Not a word of either candidate's proposals mention funding for music programs--or anything about the arts, for that matter.
If the overwhelmingly favorable box-office response to films like Mr. Holland's Opus and Music of the Heart are any indication, the public supports music programs in our schools. While Bush and Gore have admirable goals for education reform, their agendas are incomplete. A complete education is one that enriches the mind and the spirit, and nothing can move and develop the spirit like music.
When considering education reforms, we should not restrict the drawing board to improving what already exists or incorporating new ways of learning. We should also consider bringing back what we have lost.
Hoon-Jung Kim '01 is a social studies concentrator in Leverett House. Her column appears on alternate Mondays.