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Music

Obama Signs "Every Student Succeeds Act" Safeguarding US Music and Art Programs

Music teachers can now apply for government funding to save their programs.

Any millennial will tell you that George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind Act was among the many disasters of his administration. The law put testing over curriculum and took power from state to take charge of their own educational services, placing it instead with the government.

As Beatport reports, Almost a decade later, and as of last month, Obama signed a law not only rectifying those errors, but placed importance on the arts. The Every Student Succeeds Act provides funding to core programs such as music and arts across the United States by listing those subjects as highly recommended for core curriculums. Beatport points out that this is "the first time in US history that the arts have received this type of a standalone listing, meaning that Every Student Succeeds puts as much value on art as it does on traditional core subjects, which as anyone who struggled through calculus but dominated the student choir will tell you, is just common sense."

But there is a catch. It is up to the state to decide how to distribute the funding, meaning while music and arts qualify, the trickle down of aid might be droplets. That doesn't mean that individual programs can't apply for funds. In fact, the Music Educators Association offers a step-by-step tutorial for music and arts teachers to receive funding.