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Passes Music Education Resolution
On Tuesday evening May 4, 2004 the United States House of Representatives passed H.CON.RES.380 titled: “Recognizing the benefits and importance of school-based music education.”
The resolution, which was sponsored by Representatives Jim Cooper (D-TENN) and Randy Cunningham (R-CA) supported by 31 co-sponsors, was passed by a 402-0 vote.
The main finding of the resolution is:
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring) That it is the sense of the Congress that music education grounded in rigorous instruction is an important component of a well-rounded academic curriculum and should be available to every student in every school
While the resolution carries no funding and no direct impact on education policy it does provide music and arts education advocates with another tool in their efforts to ensure music and arts education are kept in our schools.
The floor debate on the resolution contained some valuable sound bites for advocates:
Congressman Cooper stated, “it is very important that we do not just pay lip service to this goal because there is no funding in this bill. This is a concurrent resolution. This just encourages, this just asks the many school districts around the country to include music as a priority. Let us make it real. Let us make sure that our public schools do have music education in the curriculum and that all of our children around this great Nation have the chance to learn the sound of music.”
Congressman Ryan amplified Congressman Cooper comments by stating, “We cannot rely on organizations like Save Our Music to try to help encourage this. This is our government. We understand the importance of the arts. We understand the importance of the stamp of approval that the Federal Government has. I think we also want to start putting our money where our mouth is on this issue. I thank the gentleman from Nevada and the gentleman from Tennessee and all who were involved in this. We are going to support this resolution.”
Resources: Complete text of H.Con.Res.380 Complete floor debate on H.Con.Res.380
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