Students improve with music, arts

Why is it always music and the arts that take the hit in school budget cuts? It is a fact these things improve students socially and they get better grades.

Why do we need elementary grade Spanish? Please, this is the USA, where we speak English. If one wishes to learn a foreign language do it in junior and senior high.

Music and the arts are the 'universal” language and society is better for it. If they want to add classes, try driver's ed - I had it in high school. I also had art and music offered as well as history, science, math and, yes, foreign language.

Like it or not we had PE classes and there were fewer overweight kids. All this high tech is getting us lazy and fat. It distracts from socializing person-to-person and family time.

I think we would be better served to do a few 'old-fashioned” things. Music and the arts and PE classes are just as, if not more important, to develop good students.

Kaye E. Haslam

Cedar Rapids