School is meant to shape students’ lives, help develop skills, and allow them to become well-rounded. Students choose electives according to their interests and previously developed abilities. whether those be in visual art, music, research, creative writing, engineering, economics, computer science, and beyond. These classes have become crucial in helping youth thrive, as well as prepare them for fields of interest that may not be explored in the core curriculum. The classes give opportunities for students to explore interests that they have not previously engaged in. In these cases, even if the skill does not become one they further develop, they can still develop in ways that apply to their focused studies.
Despite the advantages that electives offer, they are not always treated equally, and funding often differs depending on subject matter. The arts in particular can be overlooked, in many instances resulting in inequality in funding compared to other areas of study, such as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).
In American public schools, there is a common stigma against the arts. From a financial standpoint, they are seen as offering limited job opportunities and unstable income. As a result, a large number of schools and parents push students away from artistic careers, prioritizing STEM programs instead. The Microsoft STEM Perceptions: Student Parent Study, a national survey conducted by the company in collaboration with Harris Interactive, found that 50% of parents wish for their children to go into a STEM career whereas according to the same study it was recorded that only 11% of parents wanted their child to become and artist or designer and 10% of parents wanted their child to become actor, musician or performer. Other high percentage parent career hopes included entrepreneur, lawyer and business executive positions. This highlights how, in the eyes of parents across the country, STEM is an honorable and prestigious career path, while art is often discouraged, even seen as just a hobby.
In general, fewer students are encouraged to pursue further than the required curriculum, and as a result, funding for the arts is frequently treated as an afterthought. Typically, when schools face a budget crisis, the art programs are the ones that face the most severe cuts in funding. Following the recent COVID-19 pandemic and its financial pressures, a crisis which placed schools in the position where they needed to decide what was priority, 17% of New York City public schools lack certified arts teachers, according to the New York City Bar, showing that the arts were not seen as necessity, instead becoming viewed as luxuries.
Contrary to popular belief, art classes are important for every student, whether they are planning to further their skills or not. Horace Greeley High School has recognized this, requiring one semester of an art course to graduate. In an interview, a Greeley sophomore who participates in both the Science Research Program and and art classes shared that “I have gained real world applications to a variety of activities. Also, things I have learned in visual dynamics and fashion have helped me form a better mindset,” highlighting how art may be beneficial to students’ learning. According to Americans For the Arts, students who engage in the arts have proven to develop valuable skills such as creativity, confidence, perseverance, dedication, and accountability. Investing more funds in the arts does not just benefit art students; it allows the entire student body to thrive and build technical skills applicable to their interests.
STEM and art electives should not be treated identically, as they both have different needs and resources. In the case of these two types of electives, equal funding does not always mean equal budget, especially when the things needed for them have an extreme variety, from lab equipment and technology to instruments and paints. Instead, electives should be viewed through a broader lens. Administrators must recognize that both subjects exist to supply students with further education, and both should be respected. An ideal school would ask itself, “What do our students need to thrive in electives of their choosing? How can we make sure that we are supplying them with adequate foundations to advance their educations?” However, this is not the reality in many public schools. New York City’s Annual Arts in Schools Report in Education found that 47% of schools reported that art funding was generally insufficient, revealing that arts programs often lack basic necessities needed for students to succeed.
Keira C., who has taken orchestra and music theory classes, detailed differences in resources between those electives, saying, “chemistry and math classrooms always have surplus materials for activities such as labs, meanwhile [,] in my music classes our instruments can be found broken.” This demonstrates that even at Greeley, resource gaps exist that should be addressed in order to improve the student experience. The arts need to be taken just as seriously as STEM; they should receive the budget that is needed to provide students with adequate materials and resources to advance and form strengths.
“If you look around my room, especially behind us over there you see rockets and stuff like that,” said Mr. Kuczma, the Greeley Science Department Chair. “I bring in it [art] when I can, but not to the extent that I’d like to or what it used to be, especially in a course called physics and design.” The prioritization of advanced classes, specifically STEM, is prominent in the Greeley community. Many students push for classes that they feel will boost college applications, forgoing the exploration of new possibilities, whether that be in art or courses such as business or humanities. “It’s nowhere near what it used to be, and that’s because students want AP, AP, AP, and they’re missing out on maybe expanding their horizons,” Mr. Kuczma said.
