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S.C. State Superintendent of Education Dr. Jim Rex comments on the importance of music and arts education
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We have heard in several of your speeches that you consider music education and the arts as an innovation that our schools should embrace. From your perspective, can you explain what you mean when you make that statement?
I believe music, and all of the arts, are a part or the "core" curriculum for all students. In a choice-driven public school system, I believe that magnet programs and schools that place a particular emphasis on the arts (e.g., arts infused) or on a particular area of the arts (e.g., performance) will be particularly attractive to a number of parents, students and teachers.
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Many people like Daniel Pink are writing that the 21st century United States will need more creators and artists - how do you respond to that comment in terms of music education in our schools?
We can't hope to merely outwork or (out-sweat) the rest of the world in the 21st century. We must be more creative, more imaginative and more entrepreneurial. Music education, coupled with the other arts and disciplines, gives us the best chance to produce graduates who are able to compete in this new environment.
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What role will music education (and the arts) play in the state's education system as it adapts itself to meet the needs of the future?
Our state needs to embrace comprehensive tax reform if we are to provide the stable, predictable revenues needed to create an adequately prepared work force. A 21st century school system will support a variety of learning and performing options for its students. Music and the arts should be provided for every student as they learn and develop their full potential.
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Any other thoughts you may have about music education or music in general would be appreciated.
Our kids are sometimes called the "digital" generation because of the pervasiveness of technology in their lives. Much of that technology is associated with music. They could just as easily be called the "music generation." It is the "water" they swim and live in! If schools will embrace music, it is more likely our students will embrace our schools and their own education.
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