Arts education essential for creative thinking

Equipping today's students for success in the 21st-century workplace requires that they be primed for success in an ever-changing environment.

Arts education reaches parts of students' brains that other disciplines cannot and is essential for total development. As districts across our state struggle with financial crisis situations, it is critical that all stakeholders recognize the essential place the arts have at all levels of the curriculum.

President Obama's arts platform statement included support for arts education, stating that: “In addition to giving our children the science and math skills they need to compete in the new global context, we should also encourage the ability to think creatively that comes from a meaningful arts education.”

The No Child Left Behind Act recognizes the arts as a core academic subject, making them eligible for inclusion in broad categories such as teacher training, school reform and technology. However, recent studies have shown that some schools are neglecting arts education in favor of other core subjects such as math and science.

Arts education helps prepare a creative work force. A 2006 report from the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce said in its executive summary, “The best employers the world over will be looking for the most competent, most creative, and most innovative people on the face of the earth and will be willing to pay them top dollar for their services.” The report includes the arts as an essential skill for the future work force.

Jenifer Phelan

Cedar Rapids