EASTON, Pa. — Parents and students gathered Tuesday to oppose a decision by Easton Area School District administration to reduce elementary music education 25%.
The decision was anything but music to everyone’s ears, as speakers raised concerns over the district cutting music education classes from 40 to 30 minutes for this year.
Paxinosa Elementary School music teacher Shauna Khan, whose daughter participates in music education at Forks Elementary, said she had heard speculation that the time change stemmed from the need for “WIN,” or “What I Need,” time, which is often used for small group instruction.
“We need the time to learn the fundamentals of music now, in elementary school, to be superior in high school. I would like to have the full 40 minutes for our instrument lessons and band and chorus rehearsals. Thank you.”
Marcus Crawford
However, those who don’t participate in WIN often are left to use educational software.
“I can’t speak for all students, but I can definitely speak for my own kid — what she needs is not more iPad time,” Khan said.
“What she needs is the extra music time that a small group of administrators decided was not important this year. What she needs the most she will not find in IXL.”
IXL is a personalized, digital learning space for students.
“In choir, band and orchestra, students learn to work together,” Khan said. “They learned that by practicing something it makes you better, and hard work pays off.”
Khan also said she had heard the time trimming was ordered to create consistency across elementary education programs, after one of the seven elementary schools went down to 30-minute classes for music education scheduled during recess.
“If you look at numbers and what that teacher is able to accomplish with such constraints, it’s obvious that, rather than penalize the other six schools, they should fix the problem and add 10 minutes to that school to create their consistency,” Khan said.
Khan said those 10 minutes could add up to five to six hours of lost instruction time over the course of a year.
“As of right now, students have lost about 40 minutes of instructional time,” Khan said.
“But every day that this decision stands is time that our children and my daughter is being denied what they really need.”
Superintendent: Administration supports music education
Easton Schools Superintendent Tracy Piazza addressed the sizable crowd, stating the administration supports music education and “highly values music and arts within our school system.”
“There are more pieces to a puzzle than meets the eye, and there is more consideration that needs to be made at times,” Piazza said.
She said the decision had been made by administrators and the music department was asked to provide the administration with time to “have the appropriate conversations, which is happening and ongoing.”
The EASD school board, however, had no part in the final decision.
“And so I will say to all of you today, you are speaking [sic] to a choir,” she said. “You are not talking to people who are looking to cut our music program. You’re not talking to people who do not value music.
“You are talking to a cadre of people who all value all of our programs here, including our arts, including our music program.”
Several other speakers still took to the podium to express concern over the decision, including Kimberly Crawford and her fifth-grade son, Marcus, who plays flute in advanced band and sings in the chorus.
Marcus said that while 10 minutes may not seem like much time, it cuts teaching time down to only about 20 minutes per session, and “We don’t master the music as quickly as we did last year.”
Speaking about how much music has impacted his life — he has an older sister and brother in the marching band and chorus at the high school — he spoke of his enthusiasm for music instruction, and said he hopes administrators would restore the cut time.
“I can’t wait until I am in the high school choir and band and get to play at football games and go on cool trips,” Marcus said.
“We need the time to learn the fundamentals of music now, in elementary school, to be superior in high school. I would like to have the full 40 minutes for our instrument lessons and band and chorus rehearsals.”
Piazza applauded the young Crawford for his speech, stating it takes courage to speak in front of a crowed of strangers, adding “so I do appreciate you making those comments.”
Marcus’s mother said music has been fundamental in her family, from her own history, to her children and her father’s past as a marching band member.
‘Very strong elementary school program is required’
Other parents expressed worries that this seemingly small adjustment in instruction time could cause years of damage to the music program, potentially derailing some students’ paths to further education at the high school level and beyond.
“What I am saying to you is that if you want the music program to continue at the level it is at the high school, a very strong elementary school program is required,” said one woman, reading a statement from former EAHS Marching Band Director Gerald Bender.
Tiffani Blevins, who has two children in EASD’s music programs, expressed a need to “simply want to know what caused the cuts to be made.”
“We as a collective are eager to work to find solutions that will benefit not just our students now, but in the future as well.
“’The Beast from the East’ is a name that many hear, and they smile about. As many of you just said, that program takes a lot of work, a lot of time, a lot of dedication and a lot of effort, but that’s all due to driving music from young ages.
“Now imagine you, as adults, trying to pick up an instrument right now and play in a band of our magnitude. That’s the equivalent of asking students to do that at the high school level.
“Because of art, small changes lead to big things. So we ask you to just simply consider our thoughts and just consider our music education program as a whole.”