Can I interest you in a box of apples?

Should modern school music programs have to rely on the financial support of parents and fundraisers? -a question likely asked every day, somewhere in the US.

My short answer is yes……But rather than feeling like they HAVE to, they should WANT to. Before everyone starts throwing knives; give me a few lines.

There is no doubt that states/districts/schools should fund music programs, at least as much as they fund sports programs, if not more.  I’ll defend that point until I’m dead.  If you are reading this, you don’t need me to convince you as to why.  I also don’t need to tell you how important it is for band directors to maintain control of the direction that their bands are headed.  They need to be behind the wheel, not the school.  But…..he/she who owns the car...drives the car, right?  So the district can steer the car (or at least feel like they do) for the regular classroom curriculum, etc., because they pay for that.  But when it’s time to take the car on a joy ride and do really cool things...they may put on the breaks.  This is where private funding comes in handy.

We’ve all been there, with our hats out or selling our wares.  It’s a headache to raise money, but the benefits far outway the costs.   We are not only earning money for our program; we are earning some independence from the purse of our programs true owner.  

The bottom line is: If we pay for a little maintainence and put some gas in the car once in awhile, we have some leverage on when, where, and how we drive it.