Pay to Play

Recently, I went to the John Best High School Orchestra Festival at the Morrison Center on the Boise State University campus. Eleven high school orchestras from around the valley  represented their respective schools. There were 190 young musicians on the large stage. It was impressive in every way. But some serious problems are lurking in the wings, problems that endanger the very music programs that make such performances possible.

I don’t think it is news to anyone that the recession has cut into school funding. As tax revenues decline, legislatures are faced with the choice of cutting budgets or raising tax rates. The latter not a politically viable option in most places, certainly not in Idaho. For a time, public schools were sheltered from the heaviest cuts endured by other public agencies. But as state “rainy day” funds and district reserves are depleted and federal stimulus funds run out, the inevitable occurs: hiring is frozen, teachers are laid off, class sizes increase, and whole programs deemed not essential are pruned from the tree.

Thus it has been in Idaho, thus it has been in many other states, and thus, it appears, it will continue to be for the foreseeable future. According to Dan Popkey of The Idaho Statesman, legislative leaders anticipate that the economy will continue to deteriorate, and even more stringent cuts will be necessary in the coming session.

In addition, many small districts are facing the problem of raising test scores to satisfy the Adequate Yearly Progress timeline mandated by No Child Left Behind. Schools that fall behind face draconian sanctions. Ultimately, the survival of the district as an independent entity is at stake.  Different districts deal with the pinch in different ways. The district must direct diminishing resources toward the most pressing problem.  Because extra-curricular and co-curricular activities are not tested and are expensive, they are seen as a good place to make cuts, both to save money and to free up time for instruction that directly supports these high-stakes (for the schools, if not the teachers) tests.

Cutting has begun and there will likely be more before there is less. The Melba, Idaho, school district has discontinued its entire music program. Athletic programs seem safe for now, but may eventually face their turn on the chopping block.

What to do? What to do? A commonly proposed solution to such a dilemma is “pay to play.” The sport, activity, or program is supported by fees paid by participants, sort of a user fee. What could be fairer?

At first, this seems a simple solution to a knotty problem, but it poses its own dilemma and raises some serious questions.  Are activities, extracurricular and co-curricular, sports, music, theater, etc, “frills” that may be enjoyable to participants and spectators, but which serve no educational purpose, or do they address the school’s educational mission – are they  part of the educational program?

First, and not least important, extracurricular and co-curricular programs keep some kids in school and engaged in school. For these marginal kids, a whole boring and –to them – day is made bearable by one activity they can relate to and participate in with real enthusiasm. It is a connection. Call it “coddling,” but it seems to work. Sometimes, this will happen with a class, also. Years ago, I had a student who showed up faithfully to my Creative Writing class. After some weeks, I learned that he had been expelled and wasn’t even supposed to be in the building. Granted this is anecdotal and I have no hard data at hand, but I have seen it virtually every  year.

Do these activities have an effect on classroom performance? I think so. It is easy to explain the essay, with its thesis and support, to a debater. Just say “affirmative case.” The connection is immediate. The benefit of other activities is less obvious, the links less direct, but I think it is there, especially music and theatre. Again, my “evidence” is subjective observation, not hard data. I have read references to studies that show a connection between learning a musical instrument and mathematical ability. It seems that music and math are both centered in the same areas of the brain and share some circuitry. Has anyone done formal studies of the connection between activities and academics? I would like to think so and would like to know of them. If not, here are dissertation topics aplenty for doctoral candidates.

This brings us to the problem with “pay to play.” If activities benefit academics, then they are part of the total educational program of the school, and to make the student pay to participate in them would seem to violate the principle of a free public education. Participation in these activities might, in fact, actually work to raise those test scores. If not, they are indeed frills, pleasant amenities, no more.  If they are not educationally germane, we might ask if they have a place in the school at all.

Either way, “pay to play” sounds a lot like “perks for the privileged,” antithetical to the purpose of the public school, historically the most egalitarian of American institutions.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/09/19/1345532/dire-talk-about-2011-legislature.html

http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/05/20/1199431/melba-pulls-plug-on-music.html