meet their friends, hang out with teachers after school. When
you take the electives away,” he says, kids have to face the
day without anything fun. “What kind of day are we creating
and what kind of inspiration are we creating for lifelong
learning?”
“Kids need music like a fish needs water,” says Mudd,
who adds that despite all the cuts, he feels 4J has made an
effort to try to retain as much music instruction as possible by
making cuts in other places before cutting music.
Nonetheless, Mudd says he thinks music education has
suffered in this town. “All students don’t have the same
opportunities to access the full complement of classes.” And
without those opportunities, many students — especially
those whose parents can’t afford extracurricular lessons —
aren’t able to take classes in these areas. That in and of itself
creates an equity issue, Long and others say.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Fundraising efforts and community organizations have
stepped in to fill some of the gaps created by the district’s
budget shortfalls. The Eugene Education Foundation (EEF)
gave about 30 percent of its grants to the arts and music last
year, approximately $25,000 to the arts and $27,300 to
music, according to Molly Wittkop Lajoie, EEF’s executive
director.
“There has been an increase in requests” for arts and
music, Lajoie says. There’s also a history of repeat requests
— schools that ask for funds each year for ongoing projects
— for example, McCornack Elementary School seeks an
annual grant for its musical.
This year, among its grants, EEF gave $14,513 to train
elementary music specialists and provide supplies for the
nine-week music program. In addition, Kennedy Middle
School got $2,000 for its jazz band and Roosevelt Middle
School was given $2,000 for its guitar program.
“These grants provide a spark that helps ignite a lifetime
of learning,” Lajoie says. They “help support students where
that spark could be the excitement of singing in the choir or
playing an instrument or performing in a play.”
Donations to EEF come from members of the community
and are especially important for art and music, says Lajoie, at
a time when these programs aren’t provided in schools. One
EEF-funded program is Artists in Residence.
Liora Sponko, executive director of the Lane Arts Council,
connects artists in the community with schools through
YouthArts. She’s brought artists to Family School Elementary
and Awbrey Park Elementary, among others, to teach children
about dance, music, clay and ceramics. Money for the Artists
in Residence program used to come from 4J, but that funding
ended in 2010, Sponko says. “Now that schools have to pay
the fee on their own, funding for arts education rests on the
shoulders of passionate parents, principals, teachers and
nonprofits.”
One elementary school that’s passionate about music is
Buena Vista. When the nine-week music program was
instituted this year, it represented a reduction from the
elementary school’s previous year-round program. The
parent-teacher organization raised $15,000 to contract with
the Lane Arts Council to provide music for the rest of the
year, according to Sponko, bringing in musicians to offer
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programs on the fiddle, Hawaiian music, West African music
and Latino music and dance.
Sponko also oversees a pilot project in four schools that
use art as a tool to teach other subject areas, such as science
and math, through grants funded by the Oregon Department
of Education and the Oregon Arts Commission.
BRIDGING GAPS
But the programs Sponko helps provide are piecemeal,
she says. “We’re working hard to raise money and to provide
some type of arts program for schools, but the funding isn’t
sustainable.”
To bridge the gap between schools and the arts and culture
entities in the community, the Culture and Education Alliance
held its first meeting last month. “Funding, of course, is still
a question,” Sponko says, but collaboration will enable
different groups in the community to share resources and get
creative amid cuts.
Another effort to bridge gaps involves Arts Umbrella, a
local organization that encourages young people in
performance arts. Since 2008, the group has offered strings
classes before and after school in collaboration with 4J; the
district used to offer strings classes to fourth and fifth graders,
but that program was eliminated in the early 2000s due to
budget cuts. Arts Umbrella is investigating ways to provide
such classes during the school day, according to Michele
Pound, the organization’s executive director. ■
Anne Bridgman is a freelance writer and editor and an advocate for public schools
and children in poverty. She lives with her husband and daughter in Eugene. To
share ideas or stories about how the budget cuts in Eugene have affected your
school or child, email Anne at shortchangingourschools@gmail.com
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