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Art Program Budget Cuts

For a long time now in America, schools' art programs have been targeted for budget cuts by the federal government, and it seems to be getting worse and worse each year. Schools have much less diversity in their art programs due to the cuts to their budgets, and art programs always seem to be the first sent to the chopping block. It is in this writer's opinion that this is unfair and that schools do not seem to find arts programs to be very important. Art is undervalued in American schools and this should not be the norm.

Many argue that art programs must be cut to keep other, more important programs. They say that cuts have to be made somewhere and art programs are less important than other things such as mathematics, language arts, and history. While I don’t think those other classes are less important, I think that people grossly undervalue the fine arts. Fine arts are important because they expand the minds of young children and add culture to communities. There may even be a connection to teaching arts in communities and lower crime rates according to studies in larger, urban cities.

Ignoring the fact that the government should make cuts to military spending rather than to education, cuts can be made elsewhere in schools. Rather than cut funding to the arts, state and federal governments could cut funding to extracurricular activities or even to some of the school events such as assemblies. Most school assemblies are full of wasted time and money, and even though some might enjoy them, proper funding to education should be the first priority.

Depriving students of arts education is not right, nor is it good for society. Take away the arts, and what separates humanity from animals? Human expression is one of if not the most amazing and unique things about our species. U.S. President Donald Trump aims to cut the budget even more than it already has been to save on national spending, and this is much more hurtful than it is helpful.

Hopefully one day the U.S. will realize the true value of the arts and make cuts elsewhere. Until then, I fear our youth will be deprived and uncultured. If we do not fight this war on the arts, then the problem will only get worse.