Hatboro's Rep. Murt: The Arts Are A Critical Part Of A Child’s Education

The following letter to the editor was written by Hatboro-based State Representative Thomas P. Murt (R-152). To submit a letter to the editor, email justin.heinze@patch.com.

Imagine going to a gym that only provided equipment to exercise the left side of your body. What would happen to your right side? As the muscles on your left grew stronger, the right side of your body would weaken day by day from lack of use.

Now compare your body to the brain; where the left hemisphere controls all logical tasks having to do with the Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and the right hemisphere controls all creative and artistic functions. Juxtapose this unorthodox gym to an average public school district having to make very painful decisions about an academic program in the Arts.

The economic climate of today has policymakers from School Directors to the President looking for ways to save money. However, cutting funding for the Arts in a child's education is not the solution.

President Obama once said, “The Arts are central to who we are as a people, and they are central to the success of our kids.” If funding for the right side of the brain is not maintained, then reductions are being made which will adversely impact a child’s ultimate chances for success.

Exploring the Arts is literally a way of allowing students to open their minds. There is not always a boilerplate formula, method, or notation in the studio or Performing Arts. These subjects allow students to explore the depths of their character and talents in a way that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects don’t always afford. However, that doesn’t mean that STEM subjects are of a lesser value.

The true beauty of the Arts reveals that with the help of Music, Fine Art, and other forms of expression, that students tend to excel in subjects that utilize the left side of the brain. According to research done with the Do Something Organization (devoted to young people and social change), it is proven that not only does Music improve skills in Math, Language Arts, and Reading, but it promotes creativity, social development, personality adjustment, and self-worth.

This statistic proves that there is no academic subject or discipline that is better than the other. It is only in a perfect marriage of the Arts and Sciences that a student will unlock his/her maximum potential. The Arts Action Fund reminds us that students who are afforded an education rich in the Arts, have higher grade point averages, score better on standardized tests, and have lower dropout rates.

In our current world of finite resources, especially in the funding of education, the Arts are sometimes forced to endure painful reductions in funding. Some Art teachers have been without classrooms and spend their days literally teaching off a cart. Funding for supplies is at times curtailed, and sometimes, drama companies are forced to scale back, downgrade, or eliminate productions due to financial realities. The Arts hold great importance to society as a whole and our children in particular. The Arts should not be the preferred victim to the budget axe. If you support the Arts, or are a professional, consider donating your time, talents, rehearsal space, or resources (costumes or money) to a local production or school.

Steve Jobs once spoke on the importance of creativity saying, “A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences, so they don’t have lots of dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.”

Coming from a man who changed the world with technology, these words strongly resonate. It is doing our children an injustice to cut funding for the Arts experience. The Arts truly allow human beings to challenge themselves on intellectual, scholarly, emotional, and spiritual levels. Without this challenge there would be no Shakespeare, Mozart, or Picasso. The fine and performing Arts have lasted through the test of time.

Since the beginning of our existence, humankind has been experimenting with the right side of the brain. It is our responsibility as Americans to allow our children to do the same.

Maura O’Leary contributed to this op-ed. Rep. Thomas P. Murt represents the 152nd Legislative District which includes parts of Eastern Montgomery County and Northeast Philadelphia. He is a certified teacher in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Image courtesy State Rep. Thomas Murt.