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School music programs
should get more money

Ever heard of something called music? Yes people, music and not hip-hop. Gasp, you say, what is this boy talking about if it pertains to music and has no relation to praising men killing other men, having sex with lots of women (who have undoubtedly had sex with lots of other men, there's your safe sex everybody) and doing an enormous amount of drugs?

Music. Real music. Ever heard of such a thing? Well, let me refresh your memory. Puccini, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Copland, Bach, Mozart, Holst, Grieg and Orff. Any of those ring a bell? If not, then I pity you. That was a list of 10 great composers of classical -- or not so classical -- music. Bah, you might say, they are just boring and old and no one listens to them anymore. Well, that's it! That's what the problem is. People today do not value the classics as they should.

Even at Moanalua High School (which is well known for its music department), the amount of money given to the music program is a small sliver of the actual amount that must be generated to keep the department functioning on its present level through the whole school year. All of the rest of the money comes from the students, parents of the students, and the minuscule profits from concerts preformed by the school. Yet after the small amount given to the music department, the school still expects the best from the department.

It's almost like someone saying, "Hey, look, I gave you a couple bucks, now I want you to use that to create a masterpiece!" "But what about the canvas, and the paints, and the classes I need to take to become a good painter? How ever will I pay for all of that with this money?" might be the response of someone who has been put in that situation. And, "Well if you can't do all of that with the money I've given you, then just buy some crayons and a piece of paper and make me my masterpiece," would be the response from the people giving you the money. Sad, isn't it?

It's sad how music directors have to struggle and fight just to keep their programs from the threat of the government, the school or both shutting them down because they are apparently nonessential. It's sad that people today have sunk so low as to not appreciate art and music, and do not realize that they are the pinnacle of emotional expression, unless they attempt to stamp it out because they don't want people to be able to express themselves through these media for some reason or another.

I know, I know, there are many reasons why the music programs do not get that much money these days. But it is still really sad that schools, and governments for that matter, expect people to produce when they do not allocate the funds required to let them produce. It's actually a simple, yet much bigger problem. The government's budget just does not seem to allocate enough funds to properly equip and run all of the schools for which it is responsible. If the schools were given more money to run all of the different departments, then the school as a whole (including the music department) would be much better off. And for those of you who don't think that's true, ask yourself what the educational system would be like if they gave it as much as the Department of Defense gets each year.

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