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Parents

You are the most powerful voice in Standing Up for Music. You pay the taxes that finance the school district and, believe it or not, teachers, administrators, and School Boards know this. A happy school board meeting is a board meeting with few public comments! Standing Up for Music requires nothing more than being aware of what is happening in your schools. To give you a better idea of what you can do to Stand Up for Music:

- Schools begin working on next year's budget as early as February. Keep an eye out for a Proposed Budget. In most states, the preliminary budget must be made available to the public. Take a look, ask questions, and speak up if there is something that you don't understand or don't agree with in the budget.

- Create a relationship with your school board members. They are people within your own community. The have taken on the chore of running the school district which implies their desire to do well by the children and you have children within the district: common ground. Don't wait to attend a school board meeting until you have a complaint or grief. If there is something that impresses you going on in your schools, show up and commend the directors for creating an environment where something so amazing could happen. Show up and just say thank you to board members before or after the meeting.

- Be a warm body in the gallery when when a program is jeopardized and be consistent. A school district with an award-winning and thriving band program was going to take the position down to a 5/8 position from a full-time position. Parents came out to every board meeting for six months straight. Two would speak during the public comment portion of the evening expressing their displeasure in calm and brief statements. The position was saved. When he next year came, the board thought long and hard about touching the music department because they knew how their constituents felt about that.

The three stakeholders in music education are students, parents, and teachers. In spring of 2016, congress passed "Every Student Succeeds Act" which names music as a core subject and shifting the focus of education from testing to well-rounded education. However, the reality of music education is that it's very health and continuity relies on the public voice to ensure that it stays that way.

There a tremendous resources available on the internet thanks to educational organizations, professional organizations, and parent groups. We will include links to those resources. This page is a snapshot guide to how each stakeholder can Stand Up for Music ... don't worry ... it's not as hard as you think!

Teachers

You are the first line of music advocacy; like it or not. Who else will stand up if the music expert in a given community will not? Advocacy does not mean confrontation. In fact, the best advocacy is by building relationships with members of your school community. Here are some effective ways to Stand Up for Music:

- Remember that your principles and administrators are your partners and allies. They may not be knowledgeable about music education but they are knowledgeable about education and children. That's common ground to build on!

- The other teachers within your school community need to see you and know you as a person. General Music teachers can tie what you are doing in music class to what he classroom teachers are teaching. Middle school and high school choral, orchestra, and band can brainstorm with peers on how to integrate their performance content area into the school community.

- Be a presence at School Board Meetings. Bring performance groups to meetings. Invite board members to concerts and events. Make sure they associate a face, personality, and memory with you. It's easier to cut a teacher they've never seen or heard of before trying to put a budget together!

Frequently, you feel the least powerful when talk turns to changes to the music programs you love. That is far from the truth. It's just that the way you can make your voice heard is through those very musical activities you love. When you read these steps for Standing Up for Music, you'll be surprised. Ready, set, go:

- When you talk to people ANYWHERE, talk about how being part of your group makes you feel or how positive it is. As you have probably already heard, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all".

- Your actions speak way louder than words. Be respectful, courteous, and gracious. People will associated your behavior with the friends you have and the activities you take part in. Think about your teacher and how they would like other adults to see them. That is how you should want people to see you as well.

- If you have to "fight"'to keep a program you love, get organized and remember that we live in the greatest democracy in history. That is not an accident. It is because we live in a society that allows for us to speak our mind and disagree with each other but that all must be done with respect of others who also have the right to speak their mind and disagree. Get all your music friends to show up at meetings, designate a couple speakers, and then figure out brief statements that express your collective opinion. Speaking calmly and respectfully will get your message across way better than using poor language and shouting. PARENTS: Let this be a student-run action. It will have so much more weight in the argument if it is organized, executed, and represented by the students.