A compilation of materials* from the

California Coalition for Music Education

Deborah H. Mitchell, Chair

5790 Armada Drive

Carlsbad, CA 92008

(800)767-6266

email: mitchell@csulb.edu

September 1999

*These materials may be photocopied for use in the university classroom.

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Advocacy for the Beginning Music Teacher!

Introduction

According to a 1997 Gallup poll commissioned by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM),

eight out of every ten Americans (84%) believe that music is an important part of life. Seven in ten adults (70%) agree that participation in a school music program often corresponds to better grades and test scores. Nine out of ten adults (89%) agree that music helps a child’s overall intellectual development. Seven out of ten adults (70%) agree that the state should mandate music education in the schools. Does this surprise you? There is an army out there waiting to be mobilized!

Does it surprise you that the piano and guitar, the two least likely instruments to be taught in the public schools, continue to be the most popular instruments sold by music retailers? What, if any, significance does this have for our public school music programs?

Getting Started!

First you must remember that music education, all education for that matter, is about "KIDS." The focus of the school board, faculty, and administration is too often on "adult" issues. While balancing the budget is, of course, a necessity, remember that the budget should be balanced relative to "kid" issues. That is, how can we best meet the needs of our students in relation to what they need to know and be able to do NOT what programs or teachers shall we eliminate in order to balance the budget.

What to do as you begin your first job:

Make school contacts beginning with your own school.

• Get to know your principal and his/her position on music education. Has he/she been involved in music? Does he/she have kids involved in music?
• Don’t wait to be introduced to faculty and staff at the first faculty meeting. Take the initiative and introduce yourself as soon as the opportunity presents itself.
• Identify faculty/staff who participate in music or another art form.
• Take the time to educate your principal, faculty, and parents about the values of music.
• Talk with your guidance counselors. Provide them with information about careers in music (other than the usual careers – performance and teaching).
• Frequent the faculty/staff lunchroom. (Occasionally provide treats!)
• When talking with colleagues from other disciplines, show a "real" interest in what they teach.
• Foster a link between music and other disciplines such as history, science, and literature. (Suggest interdisciplinary activities that you or your students could provide.)
• Foster strong relationships with your colleagues in the other arts.
• Foster a relationship with ESL teachers. Identify students needing English language assistance and develop strategies to assist them. (You may be responsible for the music education of 200-1200 students, particularly if you are a traveling teacher. This is a monumental and time-consuming task.)
• Visit the school library to identify books and materials for use in your classes. If there are none, build support for a resource library for music education.
• Request and regularly maintain a music education bulletin board. Display pictures of concerts and classroom activities, student compositions, research articles, VIP quotes on the value/benefits of music education and other pertinent information. Each month address one of the National Standards and/or Visual and Performing Arts Framework Goals and state how each is met in your music classes.
• If your school has a central bulletin board in the entrance lobby, request to provide materials for the bulletin board in March. March is designated by MENC as Music in our Schools Months (MIOSM) and by our state legislature as Arts Education month. Be sure to include your colleagues in the other arts.
• Use March (Music in our Schools Month) as a time to promote music education. Invite parents to attend their child’s music class/rehearsal. Schedule several "informances" rather than "performances." Contact your legislator to attend one of these informances.
• Write a regular column for your school’s parent newsletter outlining the activities of the music students. Don’t write only about upcoming performances, but focus on the musical concepts students are learning in class/rehearsal. Occasionally feature an article on pertinent/new research or briefly review a book about music education for children. Keep these columns POSITIVE and NEVER discuss political issues!
• Become an active participant in faculty meetings. Do NOT be confrontational. Listen respectfully to the views of your colleagues and choose alignments carefully.
• Be PROACTIVE! Volunteer to serve on the site-based management committee or any committee whose agenda is to review curriculum to ensure music education has a voice.

At the District level:

• Become familiar with the district curriculum guide/standards for visual and performing arts.
• Participate in district-wide music events.
• Communicate on a regular basis with your feeder schools.
• Visit the district resource center and build support for maintaining a wide variety of information i.e. advocacy materials (including kits, brochures, and videos) from the National Coalition for Music Education, MENC, and other arts organizations. Identify arts advocacy web sites and make them available to administrators, faculty, and staff.

How to advocate for music at the state level.

1. Identify your state senator and assembly member (look in the local phone book).
2. When the legislature is in session, call/write the Capitol office.
3. During legislative recesses and on Fridays, the legislators are in their district office. If you choose to write a letter, always follow up your letter with a personal phone call. Ask to speak with the administrative assistant or a legislative aid (education). Inquire as to whether the office received your letter. Do not be surprised if they seem to know nothing about it and ask you to FAX them a copy. Send the FAX immediately while your phone call is fresh in their mind.
4. If you choose to call the legislator and are nervous/unsure what to say, write out a brief introductory statement but make sure you do not sound like you are reading it over the phone.

"Good afternoon. This is Carlos Mendoza. I am a constituent in Senator Hughes’s district and the music teacher at Santiago High School in Riverside. I would like to make an appointment to speak with Senator (Assembly Member) Hughes about the value of music (arts) education for California’s public school students.

5. If you feel uncomfortable visiting alone, invite another music teacher to make the visit with you. Make it clear to the person scheduling the visit that two constituents wish to visit the legislator. Initially more than two is not a good idea. You do not want to appear that you are "ganging up" on the legislator.
6. Develop "talking points" for your first visit but "keep it simple." (Your first visit is introductory. You do NOT want to overwhelm the legislator with information either written or verbal.)

• State briefly why you are there (i.e. support for an arts education bill currently proceeding through the legislative process; the opportunity to know where he/she stands on arts education issues; to invite the legislator to a district music event).
• Provide the legislator with a "one sheet" outlining the purpose of your visit.
• Do NOT be confrontational. If your legislator supports the "back to basics" education movement realize that you may never change his/her mind.
• Ask the legislator if he/she has had a musical experience in the public schools. (If yes, you can often use this information to your advantage later.)
• Do not plan on a long visit. Legislators are busy people.
• Thank the legislator for taking time from his/her busy schedule to speak with you.
• WRITE a follow-up letter reminding him/her of the gist of the conversation and thanking him/her again.

What to do next!

1. Do NOT give up! If your legislator is not a strong supporter of arts education, do not be discouraged. (We have term limits in California.) Educate your legislator to the values/benefits of a music education by providing them with information about the latest research. Better yet, demonstrate how music has benefited your students. (At a later visit, you may want to introduce two or three of your most articulate students to give the legislator a first-hand account.)
2. Develop and maintain an ongoing relationship with your legislators regardless of their position on arts education. Keep in touch through his/her home office. Continue to provide him/her with "one sheets" on the value/benefits of music education. (Be sure to keep a record of the materials you have sent.)
3. Invite them to attend a concert or festival at your school. Again, remember they are busy so provide a compelling reason for them to attend. (i.e., a reception in his/her honor following the concert for his/her support of an arts education bill, an opportunity to conduct/perform on the concert, presentation of an award such as "Friend of Music" that your music program awards to local business/community leaders).

Get involved early and stay involved!

As you plan your curriculum and performance calendar for the year, also plan when and how you will foster support for music education for the students in your school (s).

Advocacy efforts can be introduced at all levels of the district curriculum. Your involvement as a beginning teacher will depend on the size of the district and the level you teach. If your first job is with a large school district that employs a fine arts coordinator, your advocacy efforts will begin at your own school (s). One would assume that a large school district would have advocacy steps already in place; however, this is not always the case. You should make collegial suggestions to your new colleagues about including some of the following recommendations in district-wide concerts or festivals. Realize that you can not attend to all of them in the first week or even the first month of teaching. Hence the plan for the calendar year.

"Informances"

Too many music programs focus on concerts and performances as the only means of developing "visibility" for their programs. While performances are an obvious result of music instruction, we must remember that our students are not professional musicians (even if they may play/sing close to that level). By scheduling numerous concerts, we end up "teaching to the concert" just as teachers in other disciplines might "teach to the test." Concert repertoire should be chosen in light of the musical concepts we want to teach and should therefore represent easy, medium, and difficult pieces with the idea that not all music will be performed in a formal concert setting. "Informances" are a unique way to highlight the musical concepts students have studied and provide parents an inside view of substantive and sequential music instruction. The best way to describe this concert technique is to say it is similar to the Bernstein children’s concerts. Instead of educating children, we are educating the parents.

Example #1: The string orchestra is studying a Brandenburg Concerto. At the concert, one student (or more) will briefly discuss the historical period/style in which the piece was written and provide highlights from Bach’s life. Important thematic material will be briefly performed and the form of the piece outlined for the audience.

Example #2: The choir is singing lied or a madrigal/motet in a foreign language. A student provides the translation, discusses how the music fits the text, form, and of course a brief discussion of the period/style and the composer.

Example #3: Have students sightread a piece of music. Describe what sightsinging means. Have students identify the elements of the music they must know in order to perform the piece. (This always "blows parents away!")

Example #4: Feature one or more student conductors.

This type of concert is extremely effective at the elementary and middle school levels. The most frequent comment from parents is "I had no idea Johnny was learning so much about music. I thought he was just learning to play his instrument."

In addition, do NOT forget to send invitations to the principal, assistant principal(s), superintendent, school board members and any other administrators whose support is important to your program. A great "hook" is to have students handwrite the invitations on special stationary. No administrator can resist this especially when the letters come from elementary school students! AND make sure that the same students send letters after the concert thanking the administrator for attending. Of course you should introduce these people at some point in the concert.

Starting a Coalition

Finding the time to start or maintain a Coalition for Music Education in your town or school district is obviously difficult, especially for the first year teacher. The good news is that the music teacher should NEVER be perceived as the person in charge of such an endeavor because it appears to the community, school administrators and school boards that you are interested in job preservation.

Coalition building must be conceived as proactive not reactive. If you are forming a coalition to save a music program currently under fire you may not be effective. Many high school music teachers think they don’t need a coalition because they have band or choral parent booster clubs. This is far from reality. The purpose of parent clubs is generally fund raising for instruments, uniforms and trips, and equipment and scholarships. These groups don’t have adequate time to promote the benefits of music education, it is not part of their job description and furthermore, they do not have the professional resources/education to launch such a campaign. They also only represent one small segment of the district K-12 music program.

What are the secrets of getting people involved?

Most Americans care but they do not know how to "care" effectively. As seen in the 1997 Gallup Poll, Americans believe music can make a unique contribution to children’s lives. When it comes to allocating the funds, however, we run into a stumbling block. For concern to emerge as effective action, several things have to happen. First, leadership is essential. Then leaders have to provide the information, organization, and strategy that will enlist "the troops" and assist them in changing the situation. While most people feel a sense of responsibility to support things they deem important, many are afraid that the magnitude of the problem is too big to effect a change. Instead, they say they are too busy or convince themselves that someone somewhere with more resources and experience than themselves is taking care of matters. Furthermore, many people simply lack the practical information, resources, support, and "tools" to care effectively.

You must translate the problem into something specific that each person can do. You can’t energize people by asking them to "take on" the school district, but you can usually get them to say "yes" to one task that is well within their reach. That means the first task must be small and manageable such as make 20 phone calls, address 100 envelopes, write a few letters, talk to a principal, or hold a social event at their home. Next, you must find a "leverage" point. Leverage points are more effective than money or coercion and sometimes only a small amount of pressure can make the biggest difference. For example: (1) identify the real decision maker(s); (2) identify what the decision maker needs that you can provide; and (3) identify who controls access to the decision maker.

Your school district could be in one of three situations: (1) crisis (reactive); (2) correction (proactive); and (3) commitment (preemptive). You never want to be in "crisis" mode. The objective in this mode is survival of the program as it is about to be cut or eliminated and teachers are receiving pink slips. In the crisis mode you are "reactive" meaning there is no time to organize for the long term as you try to stop the financial avalanche and buy time. The "correction" mode is between crisis and commitment and its objective is alliance building. At this level you are "proactive" meaning you are monitoring school board and individual school site-based management agendas, budget, and district/individual school site reform agendas. You are developing a "case" for music education, meeting regularly with school decision makers, becoming a "permanent policy participant," and building informed and educated decision-making in the community into the educational debate. In the "commitment" mode your objective is a permanent policy presence and your efforts are "preemptive." Your music programs/curricula are well established but need continuous support and enhancement. You recruit new supporters, continue to organize advocacy efforts, and build security for your program. You must NEVER become complacent at this level!

Why do we need a coalition?

Because educational reform with its "Back to Basic" mentality is here to stay whether we like it or not.

The driving force in politics (and whether or not we want to admit it, we are dealing with politics) is not money and privilege, but POWER. Power comes from the constituents, those members of a community and school or legislative district who hold the power of the vote! For professional associations, such as CMEA, with an advocacy agenda which includes public policy, the power of coalitions must not be overlooked. The National Coalition for Music Education, a coalition of an education (MENC), a trade (NAMM), and a professional association (NARAS) has succeeded in redefining the arts as a "core" academic subject in federal education reform legislation (Goals 2000: Educate America Act, 1994) years and a major force in the movement to get the National Standards for Arts Education adopted by the states.

What is a Coalition all about?

1. educating parents, administrators, school boards, community and business leaders about the importance of music (and the other arts) in the K-12 curriculum,

1. maintaining a healthy and balanced district music program with a strong philosophical foundation which provides a substantive and sequential education in music learning. (notice I said "music learning" not to be confused with "music performance". That’s another soapbox for another time)

The Role of the Music Teacher in Advocacy

Obviously the music teacher must provide the impetus for developing a coalition and once one is established should serve as an advisor. Responsibilities in that capacity include:

• informing the coalition board of recent developments in education at the local, State, or national level which may potentially have positive or negative effects on the music program,
• maintaining a current bibliography of pertinent documents and books from MENC and the National Coalition for Music Education for use by the coalition in their advocacy efforts,
• educating members as to what constitutes a substantive and sequential K-12 Music program, (this is the tough one)
• developing and promoting awareness of The National Standards for Arts Education and the CA state Framework for the Visual and Performing Arts,
• informing members of current research supporting music education.

Developing the Coalition:

• Carefully select coalition membership from your community. Look for new, and possibly unlikely, allies to support the music program. Create a compelling reason for members to become involved and retain that involvement.
• Carefully and truthfully analyze the music situation in your school district. (Use MENC publications, state arts framework, National Standards for Arts Education)
• Identify "what" the organization desires to become in the long-term.
• Express the coalition’s "reason for being" and its basic organizational identity. (Establish a Preamble/Mission Statement)
• Define the "scope" of intended coalition pursuits. (General Objectives)
• Create an immediate focus and develop an action plan for each general objective.
• Never stop organizing!

First Year Calendar

September Back to School Night (Open House)

• Distribute "one sheet" listing values/benefits of music education.
• Focus on musicianship/technical skills students will develop not the concerts you have planned.
• Post National Standards and Framework Goals in a conspicuous place.
• Display student compositions, music software, research articles etc.

Suggest some interdisciplinary activities to your colleagues in other disciplines.

November Visit school library/district resource center. Make a "wish" list of books, CD’s, advocacy

December Winter Concert

• Include "informance."
• Include short advocacy articles in the program.

January Evaluate your program. (What "grade" would you give yourself so far?)

• Are you meeting the needs of your students?
• How can you improve your organizational skills?
• Review/revise your curriculum.
• Are you adequately assessing student learning (individually and as a group)?

February Identify parents/community leaders to serve as music advocates. Start a music coalition.

March Music in our Schools Month

• Invite parents to attend music classes/rehearsals.
• Sponsor an "informance" instead of a "performance."
• Have a district-wide concert.
• Make arrangements for students to take part in "The World’s Largest Concert" with your local cable provider (sponsored by MENC).
• Send Press Releases to your local newspaper about your activities.

Decorate lobby bulletin board.

April Recruit/Retain students.

• Showcase student progress.
• Create interest in music in your school (demonstration concerts by students and the teacher)
• Write article for school newsletter on values/benefits of music.
• Highlight research in neuro-science promoting music study.

May Investigate the value of community/business partnerships and grants for your program.

Sponsor a school "arts" festival.

June Evaluate your program, your teaching, your philosophy.

• Did your students accomplish what you hoped they would? Why/why not?
• What will you do differently next year and why?
• Will you make adjustments to your five-year plan? What? How?
• Start planning for next year.

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THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS IN CALIFORNIA

There are 120 legislators: the Senate has 40 members and the Assembly has 80 members. Regular Session convenes on the first Monday in December of each even-numbered year and continues until November 30^th of the next even-numbered year (biennium session). Special Sessions may be called by the Governor and are limited to a specific subject. Length is not limited and may be held concurrently with the regular session. Effective date of new laws is January 1^st of the following year. Except in cases of measures granted "urgency" status or having a specific effective date within the bill itself.

Legislative Procedure:

Introduction: The bill is introduced by a member of the Senate or Assembly, read for the first time, and assigned to a committee by either the Assembly Speaker or the Senate Rules Committee.

Committees: Hearing(s) is (are) held in committee and testimony is taken from proponents and opponents. Generally, the committee will then amend, pass, or fail to pass the bill.

Second Reading: Bills that are passed by committee are read a second time and sent to the full floor for debate.

Floor Debate: In the house of origin, the bill is read a third time, debated and voted on. Most bills need a majority to pass (Senate - 21, Assembly - 41). Bills with "urgency" clauses, appropriation measures, and some tax-related bills need a two-thirds majority (Senate - 27, Assembly - 54). If the bill is passed, it is sent to the second house.

Second House: The same procedures are followed as in the house of origin.

Amendments: If the second house passes the bill with amendments, then the bill must be passed for concurrence a second time by the house of origin. If the amendments are rejected, a conference committee is formed to iron out the differences between the two houses.

Governor: During the legislative session, the Governor must act on (sign or veto) any bill that passes the Legislature within 12 days. However, the Governor has 30 days to act on a bill when the legislative session ends. Bills not acted upon by the Governor automatically become law. A two-thirds vote of the Legislature is required to override a Governor’s veto.

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HOW TO READ A BILL!

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE – 1998-99 REGULAR SESSION

ASSEMBLY BILL No. 272

Introduced by Assembly Member Kuehl

(Coauthors: Assembly members Alquist, Aroner, Correa, Cunneen, Firebaugh,

Honda, Knox, Nazzoni, Soto, Wildman, and Zettel.)

Coauthors: Senators Baca, Costa, Hughes, McPherson, and Solis.)

Legislators amending in Italics

_Date Amended

Amended in Assembly March 23, 1999

_________________________________________________________________

An act to amend, repeal and add Section 51225.3 of the Education Code,

AB 272, as amended, Kuehl. Courses of study: high school graduation

Requirements.

Amendments in Italics

the provision as of January 1, 2005.

Sample Letter

(Your School Letterhead)

Date:

The Honorable Jane Doe OR The Honorable Jane Doe

California State Assembly Local Address

State Capitol

Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Assembly Member Doe:

On behalf of the Temecula Valley High School "Golden Bears Marching Regiment," I cordially invite you to participate in our winter concert to be held in the high school Performing Arts Center on Wednesday evening January 15, 1999. The band will be performing a commissioned work by local composer Carlos Rodriguez that includes a narrator. We would be honored if you would serve as the narrator. This work presents a selection of Hispanic and Native American folk music indigenous to the Temecula valley.

It will be necessary to schedule one rehearsal before the concert date and we will be happy to accommodate your busy schedule.

A reception in your honor will immediately follow the concert and the press will attend both the concert and the reception. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Your Name

Your Title

Cc: Dr. Joseph Jones, Superintendent of Schools

Mrs. Susan Smith, Principal

Dr. Stephen Lowe, School Board President