Is to cut arts funding in the schools, and it’s happening again. Funny, how many people seem incapable of grasping the idea that not all children have abilities in all areas. We can’t take kids, put them on an assembly line and turn them all into engineers and computer scientists.
There’s a reason why the geek stereotypes are so prevalent: It takes a certain kind of brain and personality type to excel in a technical field, just as it takes for art and music majors. I specifically chose my kids’ school district because it was obvious early on they were gifted artists, and our local schools had one of the best art programs in three states.
If they were going to school now, they wouldn’t have that option. What a shame.
America stopped teaching their children 40 years ago during Our Corporate Masters and their slavish Rethuglican Party decided education was a “privilege not at right.” Sound familiar? College tuition started its current unrestrained rise and scholarships started to plummet. Music programs, arts and sports (except football of course) began to be hacked out of public education because we had to produce an undefined ‘workforce of the future.’ America stopped producing citizens and started turning out cogs. Only they’re ill-fitted cogs because the workforce of the future has become a moving target. We couldn’t invest in conveying critical thinking skills to children, so now we have a ‘X,’ ‘Y’ or whatever generation who can’t think or plan past the next 20 minutes. Perfect drones for the Corporate Oligarchy because we can’t ask the 0.1% to pay their fair share.
I remember a Social Psych class at university where a fellow student referred to fiction as lies. The startled professor took a moment from the actual topic under discussion to explain to the young man how fiction is not just lies.