Proposed Cuts to School Music Budget Are Shortsighted

I write to you today as a music educator with more than twenty years’ experience teaching young and elementary-aged children. I am deeply concerned about the budget cuts the Town Council has asked our school system to make for the upcoming FY’25, which adversely impact music and special education instruction in the Town of Amherst.

In addition to my credentials as a music educator, I am also a taxpayer living in South Amherst, the mother of three children in Amherst Public Schools, and the parent of a child with special needs receiving services in the Amherst school system.

Two of my children are currently musicians at the elementary and middle school level, and my youngest looks forward to being in orchestra beginning in the 4th grade. It is deeply disturbing to me that your budget cuts will force the school system to cut funding to these essential programs. 

It is clear, based on decades of federally-funded science into neuroplasticity and brain function, that instrumental music instruction from an early age contributes to significant positive and measurable academic outcomes.

These include but are not limited to: improved brain function among neurodiverse populations, higher test scores, decreased behavioral and disciplinary challenges, and higher graduation rates —— particularly among students coming from minority backgrounds. It also has innumerable intangible benefits including improved social and emotional health and well-being.