A new bipartisan Senate ESEA proposal, "Every Child Achieves Act of 2015," retains the core academic subject section from No Child Left Behind that had been eliminated in an earlier version, and adds "music" as a specific core academic subject in addition to the "arts."
The draft bill is available for review with specific language concerning core academic subject designation on page 529. Also, the Senate HELP Committee and Senator Murray, Ranking Member on the HELP Committee, have released a summary of the bill. Mark up (a term used to debate, adjust and amend the bill) of the bill will start tomorrow, Tuesday, April 14; the procedure will be live-streamed and posted on the Senate HELP Committee website. As of this date, the House has not resumed its debate of the education bill.
As music and arts education advocates, we urge you to contact your Senator today (via phone or email) to thank them for including music and arts as part of the core curriculum and to reinforce that federal policy must clearly state that music and arts education be part of the core curriculum so every child has this opportunity as part of a whole and complete education.
To learn more about why music education matters, please visit The NAMM Foundation and Broader Minded websites.
